ABSTRACT
The birth and early development of Hashemite Jordan took place within Middle Eastern system characterized by the imposed stabilities of European domination. Like the erstwhile King of Jordan, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has possessed an international political profile far exceeding any objective measure of its power. For Jordan, foreign policy has been a virtual extension of domestic policy, both being grounded on fundamental inherent weaknesses of the kingdom. Its foreign economic policy has been based on its natural poverty. Jordan has cultivated excellent relations with most member states of the European Community over the years. Western Europe became an economic powerhouse, and Jordanian trade, international banking and investments became ever more bound up with Europe after 1973-74. The kingdom's modicum of stability was insured in the early days by the sherifian status of the royal family, the loyalty and relative quiescence of the East Bank tribal nobility that sustained the regime.
