Where do leaders of smaller powers travel abroad? By examining high-level leader visits of a small power, we gain an understanding of the determinants of their foreign policy orientations. Existing literature on this topic is primarily qualitative. This study focuses on Jordan, using a comprehensive dataset of high-level visits from 1989 to 2023 to test and revise assumptions about small power foreign policy. We find that Jordan’s foreign policy priorities include ensuring national survival amid regional volatility, maintaining regime security in a country with a majority refugee population, securing economic aid to bolster fiscal stability, and demonstrating solidarity with Muslim countries. These findings highlight the importance of security and economic needs, as well as cultural and regional affiliations, in shaping Jordan’s foreign relations.
Al-MashaqbehA (2019) Jordanian Political System. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris.
2.
Al-RfouhFO (2019) Foreign Policy Under King Abdullah II. In: KumaraswamyPR (ed.) The Palgrave Handbook of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.373–392.
3.
BalciA (2024a) Determinants of Leader Visits: A Review and Future Directions in Scholarship. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi11 (1): 1–30.
4.
BalciA (2024b) Birleşmiş Milletler Güvenlik Konseyi: Eleştirel Bir Giriş İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
5.
BalciAPulatA (2024) Love, Money, or Fame? Determinants of Turkey’s Leader Visits. International Studies Quarterly68 (1): sqad104.
6.
BadarinE (2022) Jordan’s Economic, Security and Political Challenges Under Covid-19. Mediterranean Politics27 (5): 665–673.
7.
BarréGMasciulliL (2012) Jordan: The Survival of the Monarchy. In: BrichsFI (ed.) Political Regimes in the Arab World. London: Routledge, pp.249–275.
8.
BrandL (1995) Jordan’s Inter-Arab Relations: The Political Economy of Alliance-Making. New York: Columbia University Press.
9.
BozkurtA (2021) Müslüman Kardeşler, Siyasal Meşruiyet ve Seçimler: Ürdün Üzerine Bir İnceleme. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi8 (2): 51–84.
10.
CavariAAblesM (2019) Going Global: Assessing Presidential Foreign Travel. Congress & The Presidency46 (2): 306–329.
11.
CusterSRussellBDiLorenzoM, et al. (2018) Ties That Bind: Quantifying China’s Public Diplomacy and Its “Good Neighbor” Effect. Williamsburg, VA: AidData at William & Mary.
12.
FrischH (2011) Why Monarchies Persist: Balancing between Internal and External Vulnerability. Review of International Studies37 (1): 167–184.
13.
GoldsmithBEHoriuchiY (2009) Spinning the Globe? US Public Diplomacy and Foreign Public Opinion. The Journal of Politics71 (3): 863–875.
14.
GoldsmithBEHoriuchiYMatushK (2021) Does Public Diplomacy Sway Foreign Public Opinion? Identifying the Effect of High-Level Visits. American Political Science Review115 (4): 1342–1357.
15.
HandelMI (1981) Weak States in the International System. London: Frank Cass.
16.
HarknettRJVanDenBergJA (1997) Alignment Theory and Interrelated Threats: Jordan and the Persian Gulf Crisis. Security Studies6 (3): 112–153.
17.
HayajnehAM (2014) Chapter 16: US–Jordan Relations: The King Abdullah II Era. In: LooneyRE (ed.) Handbook of US-Middle East Relations. London: Routledge, pp.189–209.
18.
HinnebuschR (2003) The International Politics of the Middle East. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
19.
İnatK and others (2005-2023) Ortadoğu Yıllığı, Ankara: Nobel Yayınları.
20.
KastnerSLSaundersPC (2012) Is China a Status Quo or Revisionist State? Leadership Travel as an Empirical Indicator of Foreign Policy Priorities. International Studies Quarterly56 (1): 163–177.
21.
Kodila-TedikaOKhalifaS (2024) The Causes and Consequences of Official Diplomatic Visits: A Survey. Research in Economics78 (3): 100978.
22.
KolievFLundgrenM (2021) Visiting the Hegemon: Explaining Diplomatic Visits to the United States. Research & Politics. Epub ahead of print 10 December. DOI: 10.1177/20531680211066767.
23.
LebovicJHSaundersEN (2016) The Diplomatic Core: The Determinants of High-Level US Diplomatic Visits, 1946–2010. International Studies Quarterly60 (1): 107–123.
24.
LeeC-y (2019) China’s Energy Diplomacy: Does Chinese Foreign Policy Favor Oil-Producing Countries?Foreign Policy Analysis15 (4): 570–588.
25.
LeeJKimJD (2024) Travel to Allies or Adversaries? A Compositional Analysis of US Diplomatic Visits. Social Science Quarterly105 (4): 996–1013.
26.
LeedsBRitterJMitchellS, et al. (2002) Alliance Treaty Obligations and Provisions, 1815-1944. International Interactions28 (3): 237–260.
27.
LiX (2015) Dealing with the Ambivalent Dragon: Can Engagement Moderate China’s Strategic Competition with America?International Interactions41 (3): 480–508.
28.
LucasRE (2005) Institutions and the Politics of Survival in Jordan: Domestic Responses to External Challenges, 1988-2001. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
29.
LynchM (2002) Jordan’s Identity and Interests. In: TelhamiSBarnettMN (eds) Identity and Foreign Policy in the Middle East. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, pp.26–57.
30.
McManusRW (2018) Making It Personal: The Role of Leader-Specific Signals in Extended Deterrence. The Journal of Politics80 (3): 982–995.
31.
McManusRWYarhi-MiloK (2017) The Logic of “Offstage” Signaling: Domestic Politics, Regime Type, and Major Power-Protégé Relations. International Organization71 (4): 701–733.
32.
MalisMSmithA (2021) State Visits and Leader Survival. American Journal of Political Science65 (1): 241–256.
33.
MayerTZignagoS (2011) Notes on CEPII’s Distances Measures: The GeoDist Database. CEPII Working Paper. Available at: https://cepii.fr/PDF_PUB/wp/2011/wp2011-25.pdf (accessed 20 April 2024)
34.
Milton-EdwardsBHinchcliffeP (2009) Jordan: A Hashemite Legacy. London: Routledge.
35.
MoonsSJVVan BergeijkPAG (2017) Does Economic Diplomacy Work? A Meta-Analysis of Its Impact on Trade and Investment. The World Economy40 (2): 336–368.
36.
MuftiM (2002) A King’s Art: Dynastic Ambition and State Interest in Hussein’s Jordan. Diplomacy & Statecraft13 (3): 1–22.
37.
NeumayerE (2008) Distance, Power and Ideology: Diplomatic Representation in a World of Nation-States. Area40 (2): 228–236.
38.
NitschV (2007) State Visits and International Trade. The World Economy30 (12): 1797–1816.
39.
PillaiV (1982) External Economic Dependence and Fiscal Policy Imbalances in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Jordan. The Journal of Development Studies19 (1): 5–18.
40.
RyanCR (2009) Inter-Arab Alliances: Regime Security and Jordanian Foreign Policy. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
41.
RyanCR (2018) Jordan and the Arab Uprisings: Regime Survival and Politics beyond the State. New York: Columbia University Press.
42.
SalloukhBF (1996) State Strength, Permeability, and Foreign Policy Behavior: Jordan in Theoretical Perspective. Arab Studies Quarterly18 (2): 39–65.
43.
ShlaimA (2008) Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace. London: Penguin Books.
WangGPearsonMMKastnerSL (2023) Do China’s Foreign Economic Ties Lead to Influence Abroad? New Evidence from Recent Events. Foreign Policy Analysis19 (4): Orad016.
52.
WangY (2022) Leader Visits and UN Security Council Membership. International Studies Quarterly66 (4): Sqac064.
53.
WangYStoneRW (2023) China Visits: A Dataset of Chinese Leaders’ Foreign Visits. The Review of International Organizations18 (1): 201–225.
54.
YomS (2020) Bread, Fear, and Coalitional Politics in Jordan. In: ShihVC (ed.) Economic Shocks and Authoritarian Stability: Duration, Financial Control, and Institutions. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, pp.210–235.
55.
ZimmermannAM (2017) US Assistance, Development, and Hierarchy in the Middle East: Aid for Allies. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
