Water, Power, and Politics: The Hidden Costs of Jordan’s Stability

DI MARIKA DE PIANTE-VICIN

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, located in Western Asia, borders Syria and Iraq to the northeast, Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Saudi Arabia to the south. Despite being situated in one of the world’s most volatile regions, Jordan has maintained a reputation for relative stability. This raises a key question: how has Jordan managed to remain stable amid regional turmoil?
Part of the answer lies in its normalization agreements with Israel, particularly in the governance of transboundary resources such as water and energy. While often framed as pragmatic and cooperative, these arrangements reveal deeper dynamics of dependency, asymmetry, and political constraint.