A reassessment of the Jordanian identity after the Arab Spring—the construction of the holy trinity identity: monarchical, territorial, and tribal

Since the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan was founded as an independent political entity, the issue of nationalism has been touched upon in several basic elements: the royal house, the image of the king, the territory, Islam, and tribalism. This article examines the extent to which the regional upheaval in the Middle East (Arab Spring) affected these elements of the identity of the kingdom’s citizens and how the Hashemite royal house dealt with any subsequent change to citizens’ identity. The article examines the kingdom’s ability to survive politically after the Arab Spring protests and tries to answer whether the Arab Spring united these identities or left them living side by side in a way that created a hybrid national identity in Jordan. The main conclusion is that since 2011, the cohesion of the Jordanian people has sharpened around five elements: the king, the royal house, the territory, the tribe, and Islam.