8. US Aid to Jordan: Geopolitical Bargain

Zimmermann argues that traditional forms of US aid to Jordan enforced existing patterns of distribution that undermined the state’s developmental capacity. In the short term, parallel institutions improved the provision of public goods like water, sanitation, and regional governance, in some cases precluding humanitarian crisis. However, in the longer term, parallel institutions acted as stopgap measures that disincentivized reform in critical sectors and could exert negative, independent effects on development. On the other hand, Jordan’s dependence on US aid resulted in a hierarchy that, at times when the USA was Jordan’s major donor, was heavily skewed toward Washington and entailed large concessions in Jordan’s sovereignty.