A really fascinating interview with King Abdullah II of Jordan recently appeared in The Atlantic magazine, and is causing quite a stir (read it by clicking here). What is the root of the controversy? The King is honest and forthcoming in the article. This lack of political calculation is causing people to lose their minds. My take on the whole thing is that it must get exhausting being a King or any politician for that matter, bull-shiting all the time and putting on false faces. Abdullah comes across as someone who is exhausted by the game and frustrated by the speed of progress. I think he genuinely wants to push his country toward a western-style democracy, but is frustrated that his people might not be ready for it and that his power is in fact not absolute. One of the most interesting facets of the article is the King's admission that his own intelligence agency (known as the Mukhabarat) is not completely under his control and frequently undermines his agenda. The implications of this are pretty frightening; an intelligence agency operating on their own agendas without any effective system of checks and balances? In the end, I for one am extremely grateful for the King's candor. It makes him human, and I empathize with his struggles. It's all the other politicians who never say anything of substance that we should be worried about.
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