By Dr. Ayman Al-Khazaaleh
Throughout the past week ending on Saturday, February 28, 2026, the Jordanian state witnessed dramatic transformations that positioned the kingdom at the center of the geopolitical storm. The week began with quiet reform files and ended with a comprehensive military mobilization following the spark of the major regional conflict, the "Iran War," after the failure of international negotiations. King Abdullah II and the Crown Prince led extensive activity throughout the week, starting on Sunday with discussions at Husseiniya Palace with the Albanian president on developing the "financial technology" sector, followed by meetings on humanitarian initiatives on Monday, and culminating on Tuesday with the King delivering firm messages to the Press Syndicate about the necessity of protecting national security. With the military situation exploding on Saturday, the King immediately took charge of the sovereign operation rooms to oversee the protection of borders and airspace, reflecting the leadership’s ability to "operationally differentiate" between development pathways and sovereign defense; assessing the situation, we find that this proactive movement enhanced popular confidence before the zero hour, necessitating a direct royal speech to reinforce the internal front and dissipate anxieties, with a focus on leveraging the King’s charisma in unifying ranks behind the state’s military vision.
From a governmental standpoint, the week was characterized by "political flexibility" and a swift response to public demands, where the most notable event on Monday and Tuesday was the official retraction of the previous draft social security law that had sparked widespread controversy, and the announcement of new amendments that ensure the fund’s sustainability and the protection of retirees’ rights for the upcoming four years. Additionally, on Sunday, the government launched a "four-day work week" survey and on Thursday introduced the "Jordanians First" initiative to regulate the labor market, ending its week on Saturday by activating the utmost emergency plan to secure the strategic stockpile of food and fuel with the onset of the war. Decisively addressing the "social security" file at the beginning of the week was a strategic and intelligent move that relieved internal tension before entering a wartime situation, and it is now imperative for the government to freeze all minor administrative discussions and direct efforts towards a strict "crisis economy" and strictly monitor the markets to prevent any monopolistic practices or exploitation of the current situation.
In the corridors of parliament, the House of Representatives took a historic stance on Wednesday when it unanimously voted to erase the term "Israel" and replace it with "the usurping entity" in all official records, while technical committees completed studies on important laws. This parliamentary movement was not detached from reality, but rather a preparation for worst-case scenarios by trying to align the budget with the anticipated war effects on energy prices; analyzing this scene, we see that the parliament succeeded in becoming a "safety valve" through strong symbolic decisions that provided the state with broad public cover, making it urgent to immediately allocate unurgent project funds in the upcoming budget to the "defense and emergencies" item to ensure security readiness continues without excessive depletion of the treasury if necessary.
On the military and security front, our armed forces – the Arab Army – were the steadfast shield throughout the week, thwarting attempts at infiltration and drug smuggling through "drones" on Monday and "air balloons" on Wednesday, and they celebrated the "Arabization of command" on Thursday by elevating combat readiness to the highest level. On Saturday, with the onset of missile strikes in the region, the Jordanian Air Defense demonstrated exceptional efficiency by intercepting two ballistic missiles that had lost their way over the kingdom's skies, confirming full control over the national airspace. The operational situation confirms that Jordan has sent a decisive deterrent message to all parties of the conflict that its sovereignty is "inviolable," and it is now wise to activate early warning systems through smartphones and educate civilians on how to deal with foreign objects, alongside enhancing electronic warfare and jamming systems to protect the strategic depth of major cities.
In conclusion, the failure of international negotiations that led to the war places Jordan before the test of "geography as fate," where Jordan preempted this by welcoming the Director-General of the World Health Organization on Wednesday to confirm humanitarian readiness, but today faces challenges with the closure of navigational and air routes. The Jordanian position of adopting "defensive neutrality" is the only wise path to protect national interests, and it is crucial to emphasize that international pressures will increase in the coming hours to open military corridors; therefore, diplomatic movement with major powers is now essential to extract security and economic guarantees to compensate the kingdom, while maintaining the cohesion between "wise political decision" and "military helmet" as a fundamental pillar to navigate the turns of this regional conflict.
