Political and Economic Relations between United States of America and Jordan (1990-2019)

The Kingdom of Jordan is a key U.S. partner in the Middle East. Although the United States and Jordan have never been linked by a formal treaty, the two countries have cooperated on a number of regional and international issues over the years. The research is based on a major hypothesis that, the presence of local, regional and international factors have affected the Jordanian-American relations and made them take the nature of mutual cooperation between the two countries. This research essentially contributes to deepen the understanding among those interested in politics of Jordan, in identifying the factors affecting JordanianAmerican relations, and on the dimensions of the American position on all Arab issues in order to overcome negative impacts and give a strong impetus to the relations between the two parties. This research also provides an opportunity for the interested researchers and scholars of the local, regional and international affairs to familiarize themselves with the nature of Jordanian-American relations at this very important stage. The main goal is to reveal the main aspects that underpin Jordanian-American relations. The research problem revolves around a central question and which elucidates the nature of Jordanian-American relations. Keywords— Jordan, United States, Political and Economic Relations.


INTRODUCTION
International interest in the Middle East emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1945, especially by the United States of America, which after its exit from the war became the dominant force. Due to the feebleness of Britain and France, and the withdrawal of the old colonialists from the region, and its gratification of tremendous economic power, Jordan ranked its relations with the United States of America extremely important. Based on his appreciation for the help, support and assistance that the United States as a superpower can offer from one side and the other side for the role it will play in supporting international efforts aimed at establishing peace and putting an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people in the event that the American administration directs its policy in the Middle East Towards peaceful goals and trends, which comes through constructive cooperation with the Arab world. Jordan remains at peace with Israel and is a key interlocutor with the Palestinians. Jordan's strategic importance to the United States is evident given ongoing instability in neighbouring Syria and Iraq. Jordan also is a long time U.S. partner in global counterterrorism operations. U.S.-Jordanian military, intelligence, and diplomatic cooperation seeks to empower political moderates, reduce sectarian conflict, and eliminate terrorist threats. U.S. officials frequently express their support for Jordan. U.S. support has helped Jordan address serious vulnerabilities, both internal and external. Jordan's small size and lack of major economic resources have made it dependent on aid from Western and various Arab sources. President Trump has acknowledged Jordan's role as a key U.S. partner in countering the Islamic State, as many U.S. policymakers advocate for continued robust U.S. assistance to the kingdom (Luck, 2019).
This research studies the Jordanian-American relations with the aim of obtaining knowledge of the political and economic aspects of those relations that Jordan is keen to enhance, its dimensions and the factors affecting it, especially with regard to the American aid program provided to Jordan in these aspects. The basic hypothesis is based on "the presence of local, regional and international factors that have affected the Jordanian-American relations and made them take the nature of mutual cooperation between the two parties. To verify the hypothesis and answer the research questions, the historical and descriptive analytical method has been used, as it is the most appropriate approach in such studies. Annual U.S. aid to Jordan has nearly quadrupled in historical terms over the last 15 years. The United States has provided economic and military aid to Jordan since 1951 and 1957, respectively. Total bilateral U.S. aid (overseen by the Departments of State and Defence) to Jordan through FY2017 amounted to approximately $20.4 billion. Jordan also hosts nearly 3,000 U.S. troops (Sharif, 2019).
The most important is the redefinition of a foreign policy that helps Jordan to move and play a greater role in the international scene, and with greater effectiveness, and to work and to change the means and tools that serve this policy, through responding to the new international structure, regulations and conditions. The increase in international and regional cooperation in relation to economic alliances affecting international politics, such as proximity to the European common market, being the largest influential economic and political grouping and effective force in directing European policy in particular and global in general.
Adherence to the flexible dynamic qualities that are far from inertia, and that are based on fixed foundations that support the intervention in the internal affairs of other countries, belief in the policy of dialogue to solve problems, continuous cooperation with Arabs in Islamic countries, respect for international laws and norms, resistance to foreign interference and the seizure of others' lands by force. The research problem lies in answering the main question related to the nature of relations between Jordan and United States. The research will try to answers the questions related to the factors affecting Jordanian-American relations, especially those related to the political and economic aspects. It will further discuss the dimensions of Jordanian interest in the United States of America and vice-versa. The type and size of American economic aid that is provided to Jordan will be also be discussed (Binnie, 2019).

Jordanian-American Political Relations
After the second Gulf war, the Middle East region did not witness a state of political and security stability for various fundamental reasons, foremost of which is the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the presence of the world's largest oil reserves in a number of countries in the region. Given the importance of Jordan's geopolitical position by being in the heart of this vital region, it was necessary for him to choose among all the options very difficult. Jordan was able to deal with all these difficult circumstances with leisurely wisdom and moderation, which gave it outstanding credibility and strengthened its role in the region. That is why the political decision-makers in Jordan worked to build distinguished and constructive relations with the United States of America, based on a foundation of mutual respect between the two countries, as Jordan sought to employ relations with the United States in serving the region's issues, especially the issues of Palestine and Iraq, and it also had the greatest role in ensuring support of the United States for a two-state solution and achieving a comprehensive and just peace through the strenuous efforts made with successive American administrations. This research deals with political relations between Jordan and the United States of America through two topics. The factors affecting Jordanian-American political relations and the dimensions of Jordanian-American relations (Saleh, 1997).

The factors affecting Jordanian-American political relations.
Tracking Jordanian-American relations in the years covered by the study, shows how strong this relationship is between the two parties, as Jordan has invested in its global position that it has enjoyed, in order to use its special relations with the United States of America to serve the urgent Arab and international issues. Its intense political and diplomatic moves to the references of international legitimacy and its decisions such as the road map between the Palestinians and the Israelis, And the Annapolis Conference 2007, and the Arab Peace Initiative, which were approved by the Arab countries in 2002, served as a historic opportunity to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of "a two-state solution" hypothesis that there would be an independent and viable Palestinian state in exchange for security guarantees for Israel to live in peace with its neighbours. And a process leading to a comprehensive settlement that addresses the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. Accordingly, Jordanian-American relations were affected by Jordanian attitudes towards Arab issues, the policies of the major countries and parties allied to them regarding the Middle East region and its future, as these policies and attitudes play a major role in the nature of Jordanian-American relations (Youssef, 1997).

The internal factors affecting Jordanian-American political relations
The concept of democracy and human rights is the centre of attention of the United States of America, especially after the end of the Cold War and the decline of the ideological conflict and the events of September 11, 2001. One of its important results was the orientation of nations and peoples towards democracy as a political method, so the two concepts became essential elements in the composition of American foreign policy, its global relationship, and the conditions of economic assistance provided to poor and friendly societies, and they represented an argument used by the United States to strengthen its hegemony over the world (Bessette, 2016).
The Jordanian internal environment has had a major role in the development of relations with the United States of America, and Jordan tried to strengthen political, economic and military relations with countries of the world, with which a number of goals interfere with it related to maintaining internal stability and protecting supreme national interests, In articles (1-4) of the constitution, there are Jordanian constants associated with programs related to the form of the state, its identity, its borders, its language, and the relationship between the components of the population. Article 5 spoke about the nationality that constituted an obsession, after the United States viewed it as a determinant of its relationship with Jordan, due to the interference situation in Jordan's demographics due to the aggression (1948) and the succession of large numbers of Palestinians and their acquisition of citizenship. This setback and its implications in this regard, a situation that is not the same in many countries, but took a topic for the changing definition in Jordan (Simon and Fromson, 2016).
However, the other narrative, which is very important in the internal factors affecting the Jordanian-American relations, is represented in the internal situation in Jordan, due to the stability of the regime in it and the absence of sharp fluctuations in the internal infrastructure. The political leadership in the country was able to maintain its historical continuity, by containing the most threats it faced in the past decades, including the activities of the Arab Nationalist Movement and Arab Islamic religious waves, as well as regional conflicts, and the shocks produced by the developments of the Palestinian issue, So that it can be said that Jordan has succeeded so far in finding ways to reconcile the contradictions inherent in the internal situation of Jordan (the system of monarchy and the parliamentary system), and between (Jordanians and Palestinians), which helps to develop the system of government and establish an independent Jordanian identity (Al-Nawaiseh, 1994).
Jordan, like the other countries of the region, is always affected by its geopolitical surroundings and its international relations as well as the factors and influences resulting from its geographical, demographic and economic situation. Including the reality of national wealth, foreign aid, and the socio-economic transformations taking place throughout the reform process, and its implications for the social and political composition and structure of Jordanian society (Zurek, 1997). The projects of the Israeli entity and its dangers also constitute a major challenge to the political leadership in Jordan, and an external environmental impact that is negligible on the internal situation. The Israeli intelligence services rely on the formation of false news and information within the framework of the psychological warfare it is practicing against Jordan. Some Israeli leaders have expressed their astonishment at the lack of a political imbalance leading to the collapse of the political situation in Jordan, and the non-transmission of the Arab Spring infection to it. They even devoted long time to review the reasons why Jordan was not affected by the Arab political earthquake that included Arab regimes that possess very strong intelligence services, and have the ability to repression that the Jordanian intelligence apparatus did not possess, which increases the level of Israeli confusion (Suleiman, 1996).
What is remarkable about the issue of Jordanian-American relations is the negative attitude that the American administration stood in the face of the Jordanian desire to build a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes, The Saudi newspaper, Al-Madina, published in July 2010 the news that the United States of America informed Jordan through diplomatic channels of its rejection of the nuclear program after six months of talks, The American position on the Jordanian peaceful nuclear reactor project came after Jordan rejected all Israeli requests to involve it in extracting and enriching Jordanian uranium (Al-Nawaiseh, 1994).
From that moment, Jordan may have started to face a political and economic challenge with the American administration, which may be the first of its kind in many years to have a negative influence between Jordan, the country that has strong ties with the United States of America and the American administration on the Jordanian nuclear file, If true, the history of Jordanian-American relations, the moderation of Jordanian politics, and the signing of the peace agreement between Jordan and the Israeli entity did not grant Jordan the right to enrich the uranium extracted from the interior of its land to operate its nuclear reactors in order to produce electric energy. Therefore, Jordanian-American relations are governed by a set of internal and external factors that interact with each other, to produce changing and interactive images. This is according to the circumstances and according to the nature of international issues that are undergoing constant changes. There are regional factors that in turn affect the course of relations between the two countries (Obaidat, 2012).

Regional factors affecting Jordanian-American political relations
During the pre-1999 period, Jordanian-American relations witnessed some tension for reasons related to some regional factors, such as the Palestinian issue and the war between Iraq and Kuwait, and the results of these two issues in the essence of the foreign policy expressing Jordan's will and political leadership. It cast its shadows on the political determinants of this through its various effects on the decision-makers, and a continuous situation has also led to achieving a balance in Jordan's network of Arab, regional and international relations in order to achieve its political stability. The early nineties raised great challenges to Jordan, which brought the Jordanian-American relations to their lowest levels affected by the repercussions of the Gulf crisis. Which resulted from the Iraqi forces invading Kuwait in 1990 and the repercussions of that invasion after the outbreak of the second Gulf War in 1991, which contributed to the worsening of Jordan's relations with the United States of America in a way that they had not previously seen. The Jordanian position on the crisis of anger of the United States of America affected when Jordan stayed away from the international coalition against Iraq during the second Gulf War, but its active entry into the peace process after the Madrid Conference in 1991 contributed to rebalancing its relationship with the United States of America (Al-Tal, 2003: 49). In addition, the United States of America refrained from supporting the decisions related to the issue of the Palestinian refugees, especially Resolution (194) in the General Assembly meetings of the United Nations since 1991, and argued that the issue is looking for bilateral and multiple tracks (Al-Taweel, 1996: 20).
And Jordan's need to improve its relations with the United States of America (based on the principle of seeking to preserve national interests, and an awareness of the process of this relationship and its direct impact on Jordanian politics at its regional and international dimensions), It has prompted the Jordanian international political decision-makers to consider with great interest the necessity of developing its relations with the American side to serve Jordanian national interests, especially after the United States of America gained power, sovereignty and uniqueness in the world economically, militarily and technologically in the post-cold Arab period, and its possession of means and mechanisms to solve some issues and the problems faced by Jordan. Therefore, the relationship with the United States of America regarding Jordan has become one of the international influences on Jordanian foreign policy and the orientations of the Jordanian foreign policy makers, and this matter has increased direct interest in the American issue vis-à-vis Arab, regional and international developments. The relationship developed positively with the United States after Jordan signed a peace agreement with Israel, and looked at the relationship with Iraq in accordance with political considerations based on achieving Jordan's national interests, and this had a positive impact that cast a shadow on improving Jordanian-American relations (Zurek, 1997).
The United States, which was the single actor in leading the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union, found the opportunity to draw world maps due to its whims and according to its interests. Therefore, it was actively seeking to arrange the situation of countries, especially the Arab region, which is considered one of the priorities of American policy. The US declared this openly through the organizations of its political thinkers and leaders through what it called the theory of the new international order. The events of September 11, were justified in order to accelerate the implementation of its strategy by liquidating the remaining foci presented to its policies on the international scene, and the Arab world was at the forefront of those targeted in that attack and those policies.
The American and Zionist interests met against the Arab and Islamic countries in Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Palestine, announcing its project and its program called the Greater Middle East and despite the international opposition to its project of war on Iraq, whether through the United Nations or through European countries or permanent members of the Security Council, but it continued to go to war. After failing to adapt the international organization to cover its policies, it began attacking the international organization, considering it an organization from the past balance and not meeting the new global developments. Therefore, it must be reconsidered and marched towards wars without the need for international legitimacy or a coalition in 1991, contented with a formal alliance of countries that mostly go according to the requirements of American policy, so more than 90% of the forces that entered the war were the United States forces and it did not obtains public support from the official Arab world, the Arabs have theoretically rejected the war, and in practice they have provided all the facilities requested by the United States, from the freedom to use lands, airports, and international corridors to political coverage of the war with suspicious initiatives to the conferences of neighbouring countries, and the United States did not need much of that. Jordanian-American relations are currently affected by regional events taking place in the Middle East region related to the Syrian issue, and the Iranian nuclear program. The developments of the Palestinian issue, and the events of the Arab Spring during 2011 in the Middle East, all of these events and developments affected the Jordanian-American relations (Al-Nawaiseh, 1994).

The dimensions of Jordanian-American relations
The development of Jordanian-American relations came broadly after the end of the British role in Jordan, following the Arabization of the army in 1956. As the military assistance provided in the political, economic and military magazines that painted a promising picture had grown in relations between the two countries in light of the Jordanian foreign policy that was built to protect Jordan's national interests and preserve its gains. And strengthening Jordan's role based on openness, moderation, regionally and internationally, a number of institutional goals of Jordanian diplomacy emerged. In the forefront of which was improving, strengthening and developing Jordan's relations in other countries, especially the major countries that have distinct capabilities in order to use them to serve Jordan's interests and regional issues (Rabihat, 2008).
On the other hand, the United States of America paid attention to the dimensions of its relationship with Jordan after noting its distinguished role in the Arab-Israeli peace process, and its response to acts of violence and terrorism, which constituted conclusive evidence for observing the interests of the United States in the region. It provided US with political, economic and military assistance in order to maintain its stability and prosperity and strengthened its commitment to peace, moderation and stability in the region, and the United States was encouraging Jordanian efforts to implement reforms that will ensure a better future for the Jordanian people.

The Jordanian interest in the United States of America.
Jordanian-American relations have important political dimensions that have contributed to its unveiling of broad horizons, as its priorities come to achieve the national interest in the forefront of the goals of the Jordanian foreign policy. This dimension required the establishment of strong and solid relations with a country such as the United States of America in order to ensure access to political, economic and security support. Jordan viewed the dimensions through the advantages that were available to it and which were among the important factors affecting its relations with the United States of America. Those factors are discussed below; Geographical factor: The geographical location in terms of location, area, primary economic resources and the impact of climatic conditions plays an important role on the foreign policy directions, in a positive or negative way alike. Consistent with that, a quick study of Jordan's location and its capabilities, we find that Jordan is located in the middle of the Arab world and in the heart of the regional crises, including the Palestinian issue or the Arab Gulf region (Saleh, 1997: 26).
Population factor: The population variable is considered one of the main factors that affect, positively or negatively, the achievement or non-realization of the foreign policy goals of the countries by supporting or curtailing the external political decision of the state. That significance is associated with multiple housing aspects represented by national unity, the internal relationship between quantity and gender, harmony in customs, traditions, values, and others. The large population and the developed nature benefit in comprehensive national development and in providing the armed forces with positive human elements capable of absorbing modern technology (Saleh, 1997: 35).
Economic factor: The variable or economic factor is considered one of the important factors that affect Jordanian foreign policy trends and its relationship with the United States of America and others. If we move away from going into the technical details of the Jordanian economy by itself and by looking at the features of the Jordanian economy, we find it a weak economy that has arisen since the establishment of the state on foreign aid provided to Jordan from Britain, America and the Arab Gulf states. And based on the deficit in the Jordanian trade balance and in view of the economy's dependency on external support and the result of political instability in the region as a result of political conditions in Palestine, Iraq, Syria and Libya, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of these countries to Jordan, all factors have affected various ways on social and economic services, education, health, and others in this country.
The sum of these factors contributed in a significant way to increasing the dimensions of Jordanian interest in the United States of America, which raised the level of relations between the two friendly countries on various levels to distinct aspects. Through US supportive role for Jordan in facing economic challenges through government programs and financial and technical assistance that it provides in all fields that include enhancing cooperation in the private sector in the field of trade exchange under the Free Trade Agreement since 2000. The trade exchange has quadrupled, bringing the volume of trade between the two countries to more than two billion dollars, which makes the American market ranks second after Iraq in the list of Jordanian export markets. On the other hand, Jordan tried to enhance its investment environment, which encouraged the major international and Arab companies to invest in Jordan in various economic sectors, which contributed to attracting capital from those investments, benefiting from security and stability in Jordan (Jordanian newspaper, 2012).

Dimensions of American interest in Jordan
The Arab region enjoys an important position in global politics and the struggle between rival international powers struggling to achieve their national interests in various parts of the world. This region is of great importance in terms of the significant location especially its seaports and it also contains a large oil stock and is a consumer market for foreign products, not to mention the linking of their political and economic systems with multiple links with the United States of America and Western European countries. These factors have gained great importance in the global conflict and made the American administration consider it a zone of influence for them, as they have specific policies set for them, among which are the necessity of preserving their friendly systems and accessing the sources of oil and preserving their vital interests. Based on the above, the United States drew up policies with multiple dimensions, including security and political geo-strategy. In the geostrategic dimension, the American strategic position and perception towards the Arab region is based on its vision of the strategic importance occupied by the Arab region on the one hand, and its global vision and its struggle with other countries competing with it on this region, such as Russia, China and others on the other side. (Saleh, 1997: 26).
In light of the changes resulting from the second Gulf War and after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, American interest increased in the Arab region in general and with Jordan in particular. Where the United States managed to bring together the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict at the Madrid conference at the end of 1991, which resulted in bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Arabs, which led to the conclusion of an agreement between the Palestinians and Israel called the (Jericho Gaza agreement in 1993) with the Palestinian National Authority, and an agreement Wadi Araba in 1994 with Jordan. The United States has found harmony and convergence in the situation with Jordan on many issues of concern, for example, counter-terrorism, the need to achieve peace, and an end to the state of war with Israel, and those positions are consistent with American attitudes and desire (Youssef, 1997, 224).
The great political consensus between the American and Jordanian trends contributed to many issues of common concern in pushing the United States of America to pay attention to its relationship with Jordan, such as resisting communism, resisting terrorism, and achieving peace in the region and others. The Jordanian-American relations have been based on dimensions through which each of them sought to develop these relations through the mutual interest of each side towards the other. The Jordanian directions came towards issues of concern to the United States of America, especially the response to American peace efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, so that this response contributed to the signing of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty in 1994, This increased the American interest in the Jordanian and was expressed through the American political, economic and military support to Jordan in order to improve Jordan's defence capabilities and contribute to alleviating the burdens on it, in appreciation of Jordan's efforts to bring peace and its great role as a factor of security and stability in the Middle East region.

Jordanian -American Economic Relations
As indicated above that there is a state of weakness in the Jordanian economy, In order to avoid weakness, the Jordanian state attempts to put development plans within multiple stages and signed an economic agreement to obtain loans and financial aid to implement these plans. Jordan has continuously sought to employ its relationship with multiple countries, including the United States, to serve the economic and political aspect of Jordan. It signed several agreements, including an investment agreement with the United States in 1997 and an agreement to organize trade and investment in 1999, the first of which contributed to the service of economic reform efforts in Jordan, especially in the field of investment and customs. The second was the starting point for fruitful economic relations between the two countries, followed by the first visit of King Abdullah II to the United States, where the American administration agreed to sign a free trade agreement with Jordan. These agreements contributed to providing an entrance for the disposal of Jordanian goods, in the American markets. This led to a significant increase in the levels of Jordanian exports to America, and for the success of these agreements, the Jordanian state initiated the necessary steps, such as the transition to a market economy. Increasing the private sector's contribution to the economy and also seeking to increase exports and reduce trade protection policies. These steps were considered the beginning of ongoing processes of economic reforms that came as a response to bring about change in light of an economic crisis. It showed the inability to continue with the previous economic policies, so the change was based on major issues that aimed at transformation (Jordanian Register newspaper, 2010).

Factors affecting the Jordanian-American economic relations
As we quick look at the internal factors affecting the Jordanian-American economic relations, we find that these factors are marred by weakness compared to the size of the challenges facing Jordan, and it was clear to the readers that the Jordanian decision-makers were controlled by multiple security concerns, both economic, social and political. When we try to research the external factors affecting Jordanian-American economic relations, we must take into consideration the state's position in international relations, its internal capabilities, and the extent of its influence on those factors. This topic deals with these factors through the following two requirements, internal factors affect Jordanian-American economic relations and the external factors affecting Jordanian-American economic relations.

Internal factors affect Jordanian-American economic relations
Jordan, while implementing some measures, faced social and economic obstacles as a result of the bad conditions that Jordan experienced, Which prompted the decision-makers of Jordan to announce the establishment of reform programs to reform the Jordanian economy in order to achieve some goals, such as working to establish economic stability and activate privatization, and strive to find sustainable solutions to the social and economic challenges faced by Jordan and others. The Jordanian state also attempted to draw up plans to confront social, economic and negative realities such as poverty, unemployment and public debt and not to rely on foreign aid in addition to that it laid down the necessary plans and programs to address these challenges, With the aim of overcoming the frustration and failure that threatens social and political stability in the country (Al-Taweel, 1996).
The United States of America has endeavoured, through closer economic relations with Jordan, to achieve a number of goals that enhance its economic strategy in the Arab region by taking advantage of the Jordanian market in front of American goods, it also worked to encourage investments in Jordan.
Despite the Jordanian-American friendship, the American financial aid to Jordan in 2011 was met with circumstances by America that included the need for Jordan to achieve legislative reforms, others are related to the business sector and investment promotion. Also, the regular US aid for the year 2012 amounting to 360 million dollars was accompanied by other conditions. In spite of the conditions put forward by America on Jordan, it continued to provide financial aid to this country, For example, the United States of America has provided a new additional cash grant to Jordan at a value of 100 million dollars. It was allocated to support the general budget for the year 2012, the provision of this grant came in light of the precise circumstances that the general budget of Jordan went through, because of the continuing repercussions of regional developments, and the energy challenges which The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources announced that Jordan will become an oil rich country by the end of the year 2015, And revealed that the House of Representatives approved a concession agreement for surface mining of crude oil, The matter regarding which oil production from this project was expected has start by the end of 2015, with production reaching 38,000 barrels per day when the project

External factors affecting Jordanian-American economic relations
The consideration that Jordan received from the United States of America, made it close to the American goods that have grown in light of crucial developments in the international system as a result of changing international conditions. As the United States has adopted different policies with varying effects towards countries in the Middle East and the world that has witnessed a change in the rules that regulate relations between countries and identified manifestations of disorder and imbalance therein during a certain period of time. These changes played a pressing role on Jordanian foreign policy, which prompted the Jordanian decision-makers to participate in the Madrid conference in 1991, after Jordanian-American economic relations were negatively affected in the aftermath of the second Gulf War in 1991, and positively in the period after the Madrid Peace Conference. This had an impact clearly and significantly on Jordanian-American economic relations (Obaidat, 2012).
The Jordanian-American relations have continued their positive path as a result of the American interest in Jordan as a result of its important location in the Middle East region. And to alert a liberal policy consistent with Western intellectual beliefs and for its contribution to the stability of the region on the one hand and the resistance to communism on the other hand. Jordan was part of it, having considered it as a supporter of the western camp in the Middle East region, The American approach was to work hard to crystallize a number of new economic transformations necessary to achieve the region's association with it. The United States of America has come up with an idea that indicates that Middle East countries except Israel have strategic weapons, poses a growing threat to its interests in the events of war in the region in the future. And it can be considered that the possession by the countries of the Middle East of this type of weapon reduces their ability to manage the affairs of the region according to their policies and interests. The second Gulf War in 1991, posed a direct threat to its vital interests related to Arab oil and the Israeli entity, and they were among the red lines that do not allow them to be crossed within the American strategy. In light of this, a number of geostrategic factors were available, as Jordan has become an important and influential site in the directions that the United States believes in and seeks to implement within its strategy towards the Middle East region. This increased the American interest in Jordan because of the strategic importance it enjoys within the Middle East region, which helps in visiting the economic, military support provided to it within the American aid program. There is no doubt that the Gulf region is drawn to the attention of nations and individuals because it is a region with many good things, foremost among which are the raw materials that are the material of factories and the engine for their wheels. The United States of America saw the Gulf region as a region of interest to it. In its scenes, it monitors all events taking place on its soil and works to keep other powers away from it, even if this necessitates the use of force. Considering the blood flowing into the artery of its economy, so the United States took to develop a strategy to accommodate events, which consists of the Gulf-American Strategy and the rationale for implementing the strategy (Bessette, 2016).
The Gulf-American National Strategy: America invested in the Arab-Israel war politically in 1973, after King Faisal's decision to prevent oil exports to countries that support the Zionist entity's state in Palestine, Then President (Jimmy Carter) issued Presidential Order No. 10, which includes "the national strategy of the United States of America," which contains details of the political and military foundations of the doctrine. Which includes, the need to prepare for small wars, and to establish rapid deployment forces that can strike at the regions of the Near East, the Middle East, Iran, Pakistan, and the Persian Gulf. He considered the Gulf region among the strategic military interests of the United States, and has the right to intervene to repel any external aggression and defend the allies , And in the year 1980 (Carter) announced the bases of intervention in the Arab Gulf region, which was based on the necessity of intervention using all necessary means, including military force, in the life of violating American interests in the Persian Gulf, regardless of its nature, an external invasion or overthrowing the regime. Threatening any of the oil states is a direct threat to the interests of the United States. Accordingly, the United States decided to land the military in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the following cases: 1. If a military coup took place in Riyadh, organized by anti-government elements. 2. If the Strait of Hormuz is besieged by terrorists or assigned to the Saudi authority, or when major oil tankers are drowned and mines are laid in the strait. 3. If the Saudi family stops pumping oil.

If the Iraqi forces invaded Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.
To implement this plan, the American administration decided to take several measures to fulfil it (Al-Amru, 2004).
It called on the United States to search for any pretext to interfere, whatever its source was Soviet, Iranian, ethnic, and even Saudi, Kuwaiti (Al-Amru, 2004, 96-97). So the intervention lacked timing, pretext, and participation by European allies, America was luring Kuwait to increase its oil production, which led to Iraq accusing Kuwait of involvement in an American plot targeting Iraq's security and vital reconciliation. Iraq directed an official memo to the Kuwaiti government condemning the increase in its production above the OPEC quotas, which in turn led to low prices on the world market and a heavy loss for Iraq. It condemned Kuwait's establishment since 1980, taking advantage of Iraq's preoccupation with the war with Iran to set up oil installations on the southern part of the Ramleya field, and its value by pumping oil, which amounted to two billion and four hundred million dollars, and demanded that Iraq cancel the Gulf debt amounting to 35 billion dollars. This was the value of the military equipment that Iraq bought in hard currency for its war with Iran, which in Iraq's view was a preventive war against the Gulf and its countries together. The signs of the crisis between Iraq and Kuwait began to increase day after day, and the talks did not help, which led to convincing Iraq after arriving at solutions that satisfy it, so it decided to invade Kuwait on 2 nd August 1990, and the disaster was had already began (Al Hazayimah, 2007: 194).
The military campaign against Iraq in 1991was called the 'Desert Shield', to protect the countries of the peninsula from the imminent danger of its neighbour that was Iraq. What a flimsy naming in its meanings cunning in its goals and goals, to ask to protect the desert from whom? Who are the enemies of the Arabs? Or protect the wealth of the desert of the Arabs from the Arabs? The United States was not satisfied with the goals it achieved in its 1991 war. Rather, it went further than that, so it started to lay down plans to occupy Iraq and topple its regime, and the war of the liberation of Iraq in 2003 to liberate the Iraqis from a regime that confiscated their freedom. What is the situation after the entry of America in Iraq, and who wraps up in Iraq to remove the president and remove its regime? This is what we wanted to draw attention to, these questions are still unanswerable till now.
The rationale for implementing the strategy: The rationale means the reasons that caused the United States to use force and occupy the land of the Gulf region. These reasons are based on oil as a primary cause, and on weapons of mass destruction, which were the reason for the United State to invade the Gulf. As we deal with the rationale for implementing the strategy, we will address it in two subparagraphs: Petroleum: The Iraqi oil wealth has not lost sight of the minds of the American and British oil companies since the news that the decision to nationalize the fuels was announced back in 1973 in Iraq. Because Iraq had a lot oil reserves, which some studies have estimated at 112 billion barrels of high quality because its oil contains minimum levels of sulphur, and it increased the importance of attachment to Iraq, its new discovery of an oil field in the Western Desert, and in it more than what the entire Saudi Arabian oil contain. The economic feasibility of some studies indicated that the cost of production does not exceed 97% barrels, according to John Tlang, president of one of the oil companies, compared to the North oil whose per barrel production cost is between 3-4 dollars. Which makes Iraq Petroleum provide profits of up to 97% (Al-Hazayimah, 2007: 201).
The acquisition of oil and this situation has become a strategic goal of the West. Especially under an American leadership with an interest in oil. The matter in which the oil issue took dramatic stages from the forms of war against Iran, or Iraq's involvement in the occupation of Kuwait, or the Iraq strike in 1991, or the occupation of Afghanistan and its presence in Asia near the Caspian oil or the coups in Nigeria, Rebellion in Venezuela or interfering in Sudan. All in order to control the sources of oil and ensure its supply. To keep the Western industry in a state of rotation that does not stop one day, and control the economies of other industrialized countries by controlling the wheel of the rotation of its factories, so that it cannot threaten US hegemony and unilateralism over the world. United States possesses a huge military force, which is matched by a similar economic force, this force in the world cannot be matched, while it has no oil reserves except 21 billion barrels, and currently consumes 17 million barrels per day, and it will jump to 2 million barrels a year in 2020. Knowing that the American production cannot exceed 9 million barrels per day, for this situation and conditions required are to import the equivalent of 6.2 million barrels per day (Al-Arab Al-Youm Newspaper, 2011).
Weapons of mass destruction: The accusation against Iraq of what it called weapons of mass destruction, which was one of the main reasons that the American media justified the occupation of Iraq was fake. Iraq, in turn, denied this charge, and it is striking that the countries that fought this war possess enough weapons of mass destruction to destroy the entire globe several times. The question is what made possession of such weapons forbidden for Iraq and Islamic countries and an analyst for others? And if Iraq denied at the time possessing such weapons and manufactured by the United States and Britain what they did, why does Korea stand idly by while working to develop its nuclear weapons? And if Iraq had allowed UN inspectors to enter its territory, then how come Korea expelled them from its territory, what made Iraq an imminent threat and did not make Korea so?
The issue of weapons of mass destruction was raised after the crisis of 1990, while none of the observers noticed that the Iraqi regime used such weapons in this war, this means that the possession of weapons of mass destruction was an excuse justified to strike and occupy Iraq. While Israel possesses a terrible arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, it is the only country in the region that has not signed the Nuclear Weapons Treaty, and its arsenals are not subject to periodic inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. All of this is on the information on one side and not a single American raised its lift a finger at the then government. (Al-Hazayimah, 2007: 204).

American Aid to Jordan
The roots of relations between Jordan and the United States of America go back to the year 1949, when the diplomatic relations were established between the two countries. Since that time, the United States has always been interested in strengthening and supporting its relationship with Jordan. However, the great development in the level of relations occurred in 1974 in light of the visit of former American President Richard Nixon to Jordan, as it was agreed to establish joint committees between the two countries, to oversee all aspects of cooperation in the areas of trade, development, military and technical assistance and economic measures to enable Jordan to contribute to the peace and stability of the Middle East region (USAID Program, 2011).
In 1975 the then American President Gerald Ford classified Jordan as a beneficiary of the law that gives Jordan the advantage of benefiting from the export of certain commodities that are exempted from customs duties to the United States. The United States has also supported Jordan by providing economic and military assistance over the past years. The American assistance provided to Jordan during the period covered by this study has diversified into a number of types, which have been discussed in this topic through the following demands: American political aid to Jordan and American economic aid to Jordan.

American political aid to Jordan
American aid and investments inside developing countries in general and the Middle East in particular have led to the development and increased realization of American interests in these countries. It sought to attract the booming markets and new democracies, especially after the distinguished American role and its domination over the world including Jordan (Al-Shobaqi, 2006). Therefore, the United States established a number of provisions to provide its assistance to Jordan, the most important of which was related to the democratic transformation in Jordan within the aid agreement signed between the United States of America and Jordan on 22 September 2008 for the five years under which American aid was provided to Jordan with a total of 660 million dollars for the period of 2010-2014 being used to bridge Jordan's external debt. About 53% of it was devoted to educational reforms in Jordan, cash transfers to the democracy sector went to building programs for support offices in the Jordanian Parliament, like the Jordanian Judicial Council, the Jordanian Institute, and the Ministry of Justice etc. (Khushi, 1978).
This assistance comes within the means of influence that the United States of America has towards others in order to achieve its foreign policy goals, It focuses on countries of strategic importance to it, which deprives many countries that desperately need aid to advance their developing economies and simple projects, Therefore, aid has become a political weapon used by donor countries, including the United States, to impose control and influence (Shuraim, 1996: 20).
The United States of America considered its aid to Jordan as a fundamental pillar of its international relationship. It is also considered as an important tool for implementing its foreign policy, which was developed by developing a number of agencies to advance the aid policy, the most important of which was the United States Agency for International Development and the United States Information Agency, and placed them under the direction of the Department of State and the White House. The outcome of US aid to Jordan reached approximately 10.13 billion dollars from 1950 to till 2012. Through its policies toward Jordan, the United States of America seeks to achieve multiple purposes, including making aid a primary goal for enhancing American national security in a manner that serves the preservation of its global influence (Suleiman, 1996).
Likewise, affirming the position of the United States as a superpower, and maintaining its leadership role in the Middle East, especially after the second Gulf War in 1991. And then valorising Jordan's efforts in the settlement process and continuing to endure it. Considering its role as an important party in the Arab-Israeli conflict before the signing of the peace treaty with the Israeli entity in 1994. Likewise, for its long-term engagement with the occupied territories and hosting more than half of the Palestinian refugees, in light of the persistence of this problem unresolved, adding to the turmoil in the region (Zurek, 1997, 44).
Jordan felt that American aid to it was linked to its position on the political solutions to the Palestinian issue. Since the United States in 1967, tried to lure Jordan into a unilateral settlement with Israel, Jordan from the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel, has seen reduction of aid to it. Jordan was encouraged to contribute to the security of the Gulf region in order to preserve vital US interests in these countries. Jordan provided the Gulf States with military advisors, professors, engineers, and skilled technical workers (Al-Shobaqi, 2006: 18). Jordan went in the direction of American and international efforts aimed at combating terrorism, Especially since Jordan pursues a steady policy towards this phenomenon, which has a bitter experience with it, after targeting the lives of many of its citizens, and causing massive losses in its economy.

American economic aid to Jordan
After the uniqueness of world leadership, following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States of America began to look to expand its influence in the various regions of the world in general and the Middle East region in particular through economic aid. The economic assistance provided to a number of beneficiary countries has had its role in achieving these purposes. If the American point of view meets with the Jordanian efforts based on the march towards democratization and improving the country's economic conditions by starting to implement the economic reform program that is part of the ongoing political development processes in the country. In addition to working as a regional and global partner for the United States of America, which found that Jordan has an important strategic position and stable internal situation. The Jordanian and American sides have established many leading institutions as partners in development nearly sixty years ago (USAID Program, 2011).
The United States of America has sought to achieve a number of goals in return for providing American economic aid to Jordan, such as bringing about changes that encourage the building of a continuous Jordanian socio-economic power within the framework of the convergence of the international capitalist system, which contributes to the flow of capital to facilitate the process of integration into the global economic system. Also, the reconstruction of production and institutional structures in the private sector within the Jordanian economy (Al-Amru, 2004: 67).
The US economic ties to Jordan have contributed to the development of health services, education and political reforms in Jordan. This assistance also contributed to improving the learning environment through building and maintaining schools, enhancing the quality of public education and teaching, encouraging distance learning and expanding the early childhood education program and developing transition skills from school to work. In addition, the Jordanian government initiated political reform to build a more democratic society. Nevertheless, Jordan's participation remained limited, but civil society and media institutions remain weak, and political parties remain underdeveloped.

II. CONCLUSION
There are many political, economic and other factors that affected Jordanian-American relations, which came through Jordan's influence on the geopolitical environment and its international relationship as well as the factors and influences resulting from its demographic and economic situation, including the reality of national wealth, foreign aid, and the socio-economic transformations taking place throughout the reform process, and its implications for the composition of Jordanian society and its social and political structure. The geographical location, demographic factors, and economic conditions in Jordan have clearly contributed to increasing the dimensions of Jordanian interest in the United States of America, which in turn has raised the level of relations between the two friendly countries at various levels to distinct ranks. The US is actually helping to improve the Jordanian foreign policy design to move and play a greater role on the international scene, and more effectively, and works to change the means and tools that serve this policy, and by responding to the new international order, systems and conditions.