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Ten Years Ago I Said, You Know, My Goal Is To Be Able To Get Food On The Table. What I'm Trying To Say By That Is Trying To Create A Vibrant, Capable And Effective Middle Class. The Quicker And Stronger That We Can Be Able To Do This, The Easier It Is For Political Reform To Move Forward.

-Abdallah II

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Ten Years Ago I

Abdallah II

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Ten Years Ago I Said, You Know, My Goal Is To Be Able To Get Food On The Table. What I'm Trying To Say By That Is Trying To Create A Vibrant, Capable And Effective Middle Class. The Quicker And Stronger That We Can Be Able To Do This, The Easier It Is For Political Reform To Move Forward.

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I Believe Strongly In The Rights Of Women... My Mother Is A Woman, My Sister Is A Woman, My Daughter Is A Woman, My Wife Is A Woman.

No Matter What's Happening In The Middle East - The Arab Spring, Et Cetera, The Economic Challenges, High Rates Of Unemployment - The Emotional, Critical Issue Is Always The Israeli-palestinian One.

The Brave Pilot Gave His Life Defending His Faith, Country And Nation And Joined Other Jordanian Martyrs Who Gave Their Lives For Jordan.

Chemical Weapons Are Something That Scares Everybody.

I'm Not The Type Of Person That Is Forced.

We Have No Right To Dictate, Through Irresponsible Action Or Narrow-mindedness, The Future Of Our Children, And Our Children's Children. There Has Been Enough Destruction, Enough Death, Enough Waste.

In Our View, Successful Reform Is Not An Event. It Is A Sustainable Process That Will Build On Its Own Successes - A Virtuous Cycle Of Change.

I Have The Responsibility Of Over Four Million People, And I Am In A Position To Do Good, To Be Able To Bring About A New Life For My People, And I Will Continue To Move In That Direction. It's A Burden, But It Needs To Be Done, And You Have To Have The Courage And Wisdom To See It Through.

Blowing Up Buses Will Not Induce The Israelis To Move Forward, And Neither Will The Killing Of Palestinians Or The Demolition Of Their Homes And Their Future. All This Needs To Stop. And We Pledge That Jordan Will Do Its Utmost To Help Achieve It.

It Is Always Dangerous To Underestimate Anybody.

I Think This Is Really A Defining Moment For The Arab World. The Problem Is, It Is All Going To Be About Blood, Sweat And Tears. In Certain Countries It May Be Just Sweat, And In Some Countries Sweat And Tears, And In Some Countries, As You Can See, A Lot Of Blood. I Think Initial Instability Is Something That We Are All Extremely Nervous Of.

I'm Just Very Wary That Once You Start Military Operations In Any Country, It's Very Difficult To Predict What The Outcome Is.

Many Occasions I've Sat Down With Israelis To Say, Where Do You See Your Country In 10 Years Time, And Work Me Back, So We Can Figure Out The Synergies And The Connections Between Israel And The Rest Of The Arab World. No Israeli Has Ever Been Able To Answer That Question.

When I Talk To People In Need, They Tell Me They Want To Hope; They Are Eager For Opportunity; They Are Ready For Better Days. And I Can Tell You That Every Time Their Hopes Are Disappointed, All Nations Lose.

Extremists, Who Thrive On Conflict; Who Do Not Tolerate Diversity; Who Seek Power Through Division And Destruction. The Global System They Hope To Create Is One Of New Walls And New Isolation, And Radically Smaller Horizons. It Is An Anti-democratic, Anti-economic-growth, And Anti-progress Agenda.

Each Country Its Cost Analysis Is Going To Be Different. So What We Are You Seeing In Syria, For Example, Is Different Than What's Going On In Jordan. The Maps Are Being Rewritten.

I Hope That None Of The Countries In The Middle East Are Planning Anything But The Peaceful Utilization Of Nuclear Energy.

Don't Take 'no' For An Answer.

If You Look At Military And Intelligence Positions From The 1950s, The Israeli-palestinian Conflict Has Always Been Against American National Interests.

It's A Tremendous Responsibility To Be Direct Descendants Of The Prophet Muhammad. This Family Has Had The Burden Of Leadership On Its Shoulders For 1,400 Years. I'm Not Going To Drop The Ball On My Shift.

We Have Peace With Israel. We're Actually The Last Man Standing. So There Is Going To Be Immense Pressure And People Asking, 'why Are We Having This Relationship When It's Not Benefiting Anybody?' Obviously, My Answer Is You Always Benefit From Peace.

I Like To Look At The Glass Half Full.

Jordan Has To Show The Arab World That There's Another Way Of Doing Things. We're A Monarchy, Yes, But If We Can Show Democracy That Leads To A Two-, Three-, Four-party System - Left, Right And Center - In A Couple Of Years' Time, Then The Muslim Brotherhood Will No Longer Be Something To Contend With.

Today More Than Ever We Need Creative Minds To Address The Issues Of The Age. And One Of The Most Urgent Is This: How Can Humanity Know So Much, Achieve So Much, And Still Fail So Many People So Badly?

Ten Years Ago I Said, You Know, My Goal Is To Be Able To Get Food On The Table. What I'm Trying To Say By That Is Trying To Create A Vibrant, Capable And Effective Middle Class. The Quicker And Stronger That We Can Be Able To Do This, The Easier It Is For Political Reform To Move Forward.

The Security And The Future Of Jordan Is Hand-in-hand With The Future Of The Palestinians And The Israelis.

There Are So Many Different Sub-societies Inside Of Syria.

The Monarchy That I Hand Over To My Son Is Not Going To Be The Same One That I Have Inherited. ... There Is A Tendency By A Lot Of Officials To Hide Behind The King. And It's About Time That Officials Take Their Responsibility And Are Responsible In Front Of The People. Because Today, If You're Appointed By The King, They Don't Feel That They're Responsible For The People. If You Have A Government That Is Elected, They Need To Do The Hard Work — Because If They Don't, They Won't Be Around The Next Time The Ballot Box Is Open.

We Have To Always Hope In Humanity That People Will Make The Right Choices.

I Think It's Almost Impossible For Any Expert To Predict For The Rapid Changes We See In The Middle East. They Are Rapid And They Will Continue For Quite A While.

The Monarchy That I Hand Over To My Son Is Not Going To Be The Same One That I Have Inherited.

Many Will View The Compromises That Will Be Made During Your Negotiations As Painful Concessions. But Why Not View Them As Peace Offerings, Ones That Will Provide In Return The Priceless Gifts Of Hope, Security And Freedom For Our Children And Our Children's?

You're Always Going To Have Extremists In Every Religion.

Over The Past Few Years, The Road To Confrontation Has Shown Its Consequences: Loss Of Innocent Lives, Destruction And Fear. Most Costly, However, Was The Loss Of Hope. The Most Precious Gift That You Can Present To Your Peoples Over The Coming Weeks Is Renewed Hope Born Out Of Tangible Progress On The Ground.

Prime Minister Sharon, Prime Minister Abbas, I Urge You Today To End The Designs Of Those Who Seek Destruction, Annihilation And Occupation, And I Urge You To Have The Will And The Courage To Begin To Realize Our Dreams Of Peace, Prosperity And Coexistence.

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I Personally Believe That Any Country That Has A Nuclear Program Should Conform To International Regulations And Should Have International Regulatory Bodies That Check To Make Sure That Any Nuclear Program Moves In The Right Direction.

I've Benefited From The Best Of Both Societies And Both Cultures, East And West.

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When You Get Billions In Aid And Your Weapons Resupplied And Your Ammunition Stock Resupplied, You Don't Learn The Lesson That War Is Bad And Nobody Wins.

Fifty-seven Countries In The World, A Third Of The United Nations, Do Not Recognize Israel. In A Way, I Think North Korea Has Better International Relations Than Israel.

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Peace With Israel Is A Strategic Imperative For Jordan.

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Remember You Don't Do Anything In Isolation.

My View Is When You Use Violence On Your People, That Never Ends Well.

If You Believe That The Killing Of Innocent People Is Right, Then You Are Not Part Of My Future.

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