ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an exhaustive balance-sheet; better qualified authors have already undertaken this task. It aims to put Jordan's economic development in some sort of perspective, in the light of some considerations about the major trends in the Arab economies since the 1960s. The Jordanian economy is a good example of how important it is to treat cautiously concepts which are loose and imprecise, concepts such as economic viability and dependence. In understanding Jordan's situation, extreme environmental instability is thus more important than the country's dependence or the 'artificial nature' of its economy. The regional instability results from the incessant political and military conflicts since the Second World War. Military constraints determine where industries are located, interfere with irrigated agricultural projects and periodically cast doubt over prospects in the medium term. The six-year development plan was a classic example: it was interrupted in the middle by a war which ended up cutting the country in half.
