Cole Blockenfeld, director of advocacy at the Project on Middle East Democracy, argues that reforms instituted for Jordan’s Jan. 2013 parliamentary elections were “only minor technical and administrative improvements to the voting process” rather than fundamental reforms that require the monarchy to share power. According to Blockenfeld, who participated in an NDI election observation delegation [3], too much praise from the U.S. for “modest steps” made to improve the elections are detrimental, because they give the monarchy the impression that these small changes are enough.

“For a country that prides itself on being stable, progressive, and a dependable ally of the West, Jordan must do more to meet the high bar it sets for itself. US praise for limited reforms not only reinforces a hollow and fragile process, it is also a strategic miscalculation in a volatile region.”