by Emily Przyborowski
The Islamic State may live on receding inward Republic of Iraq together with Syria, but its militants may before long discovery rubber harbor nearby—in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Jordan’s reputation every bit a stable field together with a primal ally inward the instruct by against the Islamic State inward Republic of Iraq together with Syrian Arab Republic has positioned it at the forefront of the U.S.-led “War on Terror.” But growing signs inside the Kingdom advise that the country, for all of its ties to the West, could before long instruct a serious postal service –Syrian target for the Islamic State.
In August 2018 , a terrorist laid on inward the metropolis of Al-Salt killed iv Jordanian safety officers together with injured 16 civilians. Five Jordanian nationals subscribing to the radical ideology of the Islamic State were arrested next the attack. The attackers had large amounts of homemade explosives buried nearby, which were intended for time to come attacks on civilians together with safety installations.
The incident shattered the tenuous calm that has prevailed inside the kingdom inward recent years. But it may also live on a portent of things to come. That is because extremist activity inward Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has been on therise since 2015 , every bit the Syrian state of war steadily bled over into the country, triggering a growing publish of terrorist cells together with attempted attacks.
The numbers tell the story—Jordan ranks every bit the 3rd largest rootage of unusual fighters to the Islamic State “caliphate.” An estimatedcontributorsto radicalization.
The country’s counterterrorism policy , meanwhile, remains hotly contested. For instance, Jordan’s authorities has criminalized the human activity of joining or fifty-fifty promoting terrorist organizations, including the Islamic State. But this focus on “hard security” has made it hard for authorities inward Amman to stalk radical recruitment or proactively engage inward ideological competition.
However, the Hashemite Kingdom is offset to instruct aid on this score. In March 2018 , the province partnered alongside the States to launch a novel counterterrorism preparation pump S of Amman. The center, which is designed to growth Jordan’s capability to combat domestic terrorism, comes alongside a four-year pledge of around $350 1 grand 1000 inward armed forces aid.
However, this effort is yet nascent together with has yet to yield whatsoever tangible results inward improving Amman’s safety situation. It is also an exception—the international community has mostly paid piddling attending to Jordan’s vulnerability, preferring to focus on dismantling the Islamic State’s Syrian “caliphate” together with fighting ISIS fighters headed to Europe.
That is an error. The bear witness is increasingly clear; Jordan’s mix of vulnerable, at-risk populations together with exposure to Islamism expire far a prime number candidate for subversion. The Islamic State already knows this all also well. The August 2018 al-Salt terrorist laid on should serve every bit a wake-up telephone vociferation upward for the international community every bit well.
Emily Przyborowski is a researcher at the American Foreign Policy Council inward Washington, DC.
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