Apr 23, 2015

Jordan’s King Abdullah has reiterated his commitment to confront Islamist extremists, or “outlaws,” as he calls them, while maintaining his country’s leading role in the fight against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria and Iraq. But observers in Amman believe the king is worried about cracks in the US-led coalition against the terrorist group.

In his interview with Fox News on April 13, Abdullah disclosed that Jordan is now the only Arab country left in that coalition, after the Unitd Arab Emirates and Bahrain withdrew their fighter jets in the wake of the Saudi-led airstrikes on Yemen, which began March 26.

Political columnist Fahd al-Khitan told Al-Monitor that despite the loss of Arab participation in the coalition against IS militants, the king believes that this war takes precedence over any other regional issue. Indeed, the Jordanian monarch insisted in his Fox News interview that this “is our war” and that “as the Iraqis and the coalition increase their tempo for the next operation in Iraq, so will Jordan increase its tempo inside of Iraq.”

Jordan has joined the air campaign in Yemen, but its role has been symbolic. The king, an ally of Saudi Arabia, said that eventually, there must be a political solution to the crisis in Yemen. It was the first time that he spoke publicly about his personal stand on the Yemen issue since he departed unexpectedly from the Arab League summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on March 28. Observers believe that Abdullah was not happy with the summit’s agenda, which shifted the focus off the war on IS in Iraq and Syria to the air campaign against the Houthis in Yemen.

Khitan said it's clear that Jordan’s views on fighting IS, the war in Yemen and relations with Iran differ from that of its traditional Gulf allies and even the United States. He added that Jordan is “managing those differences without losing the backing of its allies.” In the interview King Abdullah said, “As a result of the Arab Spring, Arab countries have realized [the] need to stand more on our own two feet, and take our own decisions and be more bullish and straightforward about it.” He added, “At the end of the day, I think I know what’s best for the country and for the region.”