Changing lifestyle and ideology

In the midst of turbulent events, we desperately need fast interventions, faster than the developments.

Generally speaking, adopting a decision takes time; it has to pass through standard procedures before an individual or a group arrives at a conclusion.

In the regional current case, considering the total chaos, there is no leisure time and decisions need to be made rapidly to match the radical changes that Jordan and the region are going through.

In the words of Napoleon Bonaparte, “take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in”.

Launching a deradicalisation strategy is no easy mission, but the risks, by delaying this step, is very high.

What strategy does Jordan really need?

Is it just wishing to change the schools’ curricula? Or are there some reluctant attempts to contain the expansion of the radical movements and thoughts?

Jordan needs to improve both the quality of life of people and the quality of mind. Accordingly, it is a process of changing life conditions and decent services, and working to give people the chance to adopt a different lifestyle and cultural sources.

It is the time to terminate the domination of any idea on extremism. For example, in cities like Zarqa or Maan, it would be useless to limit the efforts to changing the curricula for students when these students do not have the chance to practise non-academic activities.

History proves that revolutionary models have a rapid take-off. In most the Arab countries, the climate is right for this transit.

The coming phase is likely to take the whole Arab world through a new dark stage. There will be numerous challenges, and this makes Jordan’s goal of securing and stability in this unstable climate a priority.

Therefore, Jordan should apply an effective deradicalisation strategy, at the same time considering having some new political figures with strong security, military and political background who can deal with internal and external issues.

Moreover, Jordan needs to conserve the integrity of its institutions. This is hard without a new governing body such as “a national security council” that is prepared to coordinate and revise policies and take speedy decisions in order to be efficient.

In the presence of a real willingness to work and change, economic hardship cannot be a major obstacle.

There is always space for concrete changes that bring satisfaction and restore hope that a better and secure future really exists. 

In the words of the Canadian-American economist J.K. Galbraith: “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”

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