Jordanians are hospitable with a generous spirit, but they have tough morals if you do not know your limits in dealing with them.
This fact is the key to understanding for anyone who thinks that generosity means compromising, and that excessive welcome opens all doors, those who think so are mistaken from the start at the moment of entry. Jordan cannot be understood just by smiles or quick tours or photos or street encounters. Jordan is a nation known for its respect and the extent of your recognition of its natural boundaries and the sensitivity of dealing with a people who know when to welcome and when to reciprocate with double the measure.
Jordanians are patriotic and genuine people who knew their origins before they knew politics, and stand with their land and leadership as a wall of stability in an unstable region, practicing hospitality with dignity and distinguishing between a guest who respects the rules of engagement and an intruder who tests them under the guise of getting close to people. Excessive movement and constant travel between places, meetings, and searching every corner do not produce as much knowledge as it distances the diplomat from the essence of his task. Excessive movement suggests superficiality and reveals a misunderstanding of the basics. The ambassador who thinks that Jordan can be understood by wandering is mistaken and puts himself in chaos, far from true diplomacy.
Diplomacy is a precise and organized work; Jordan is a deeply structured country with a long experience, knows its surroundings, and is aware of the dangers of the region, and builds its stability with intellect and caution. Whoever wants to deal with it should come through its official door, not via side paths and through its institutions, not through the open street corners.
The state first, then the community, and anyone trying to bypass this order finds himself in front of a solid wall before finding any yellow smiles on the streets.
If the American ambassador wanted a responsible answer to the previously asked question, he would say that Jordan is a sovereign state and its people are generous and aware. The relationship with it is based on mutual respect, not continuous movement or quick impressions. Diplomatic work requires balance and caution, not constant movement in an attempt to read all faces of the people.
Jordan does not need someone to discover it but someone who understands how to stand before it and speak to it, and how to respect the boundaries of the state and its people.
Jordanians set clear boundaries, they welcome those who respect them and are reserved towards those who overstep.
Excessive movement of a guest in Jordan turns into chaos and discomfort and leaves an impression of randomness and imbalance, and a lack of commitment to the available boundaries for the guest, which Jordanians strongly reject. Whoever wants to truly see Jordan must respect its stance and deal with it from the position of the state, not from the angle of an intruder.
Jordanians listen well and read more than it appears, they know who comes as a partner and who comes as an intruder, they know that dignity is granted only to those who deserve it and that the state is understood only through the logic of respect and appreciation. Their chest is broad and their hand extended but they do not allow crossing of boundaries; those who tried that in the past found hardness and harshness in response despite all the good hospitality.
Jordan is seen from a position of strength and respect, not from an angle of experimentation, and anyone who wants to describe it or deal with it must start by understanding this rule. The chest is broad, the hand extended, but those who overstep their limits find themselves in front of the state's solidity and the spirit of its people, which does not accept manipulation or experimentation. This is how Jordan is seen and this is how the question should be answered.
