The Most American King: Jordan’s Abdullah II and the craft of survival

The Most American King: Jordan’s Abdullah II and the craft of survival Submitted by Hossam el-Hamalawy on Thu, 03/12/2026 - 09:07 A rare biography into the life of Jordan’s king gives insight into the statecraft that has kept him in power, but not the domestic cost of his policies King Abdullah II meets US President Donald Trump at the White House in February, 2025 (AFP) Off Aaron Magid’s The Most American King: Abdullah of Jordan sets out to fill an important gap in contemporary Middle Eastern history. Despite Abdullah II having ruled Jordan for more than a quarter of a century, surviving regional upheavals that swept away presidents and monarchs alike, no comprehensive political biography has previously attempted to map his life, networks, and rule in detail. Magid offers a richly reported narrative built on more than a hundred interviews with Jordanian officials, western diplomats, intelligence figures, military officers and analysts, supplemented by archival material in the US and UK .