Jordan's Foreign Policy U-turn Against Syria Post-War on Terrorism

  • Dyah Purbo Arum Larasati Pekanbaru
Keywords: foreign policy u-turn, Jordan, Syria, terrorism, two level games theory

Abstract

Jordan is one of the Arab countries that played an essential role in the war in Syria. The battle began with anti-government demonstrations in Syria in 2011, then turned into an armed conflict after forming armed militias affiliated with Al Qaeda, and continued with the establishment of ISIS in 2013. Currently, Syria has won the war against terrorism, although terrorist militias still control a relatively small area in Syria. Since 2021, Arab countries that initially supported armed militias have taken foreign policy's u-turn, namely returning to normalization efforts with Syria. This study aims to explain the reasons for the normalization of diplomatic relations carried out by Jordan towards Syria. This study uses Robert D. Putnam's two-level games theory and is carried out qualitatively by collecting data through literature studies and interviews with humanitarian activists in Syria. This study finds that Jordan's foreign policy's u-turn towards Syria has two goals. First, it wants to improve its domestic problems, namely the economic downturn, one of which occurred due to the influx of refugees, security issues, water availability. Second, Jordan wants to achieve international targets, whereas Jordan, a Western ally, wants to reduce Iran's influence in the Middle East region.

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Published
2021-12-24
How to Cite
Larasati, D. (2021). Jordan’s Foreign Policy U-turn Against Syria Post-War on Terrorism. Jurnal ICMES, 5(2), 162-185. https://doi.org/10.35748/jurnalicmes.v5i2.111