• King of Jordan Abdullah II bin Al Hussein, 1962

   

King Abdullah II attended St Edmund's School, Hindhead, Surrey, before moving on to Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1980, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, and served as a troop commander in the 13th / 18th Royal Hussars. In 1982, King Abdullah II attended Pembroke College at Oxford University where he completed a one year Special Studies course in Middle Eastern Affairs. In 1987, he attended the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Abdullah would later serve in the Jordanian forces and became Major General in May 1998.

In the 1980s, King Hussein considered arranging for the throne to pass to his brother and then to his son Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, but changed his mind by 1992. He seriously considered appointing one of his nephews as heir, but on his deathbed, on 25 January 1999, he named Abdullah as his heir.

Abdullah became king on 7 February 1999, upon the death of his father King Hussein. Hussein had recently named him Crown Prince on 24 January, replacing Hussein's brother Hassan, who had served many years in the position. He is the 41st generation direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. He is the namesake of King Abdullah I, his great grandfather who founded modern Jordan.

King Abdullah II is the head of a constitutional monarchy in which the King retains substantial power. In 2010, he was chosen as the 4th most influential Muslim in the world.

Jordan's economy has improved greatly since Abdullah ascended to the throne in 1999, and he has been credited with increasing foreign investment, improving public - private partnerships, and providing the foundation for Aqaba's free trade zone and Jordan's flourishing ICT sector. He also set up five other special economic zones: Irbid, Ajloun, Mafraq, Ma'an and the Dead Sea. As a result of these reforms, Jordan's economic growth has doubled to 6% annually under King Abdullah's rule compared to the latter half of the 1990s. Foreign direct investment from the West as well as the countries of the Persian Gulf has continued to increase. He also negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States, which was the third free trade agreement for the U.S. and the first with an Arab country.

In 2008, King Abdullah began his Decent Housing for Decent Living campaign in which all Jordanian citizens, and even Palestinian refugees, will be guaranteed high quality residential housing with easy access to community needs such as health, education and community activities.

Abdullah's speech at The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in September 2005 was entitled "Traditional Islam: The Path to Peace." While en route to the United States, King Abdullah met with Pope Benedict XVI to build on the relations that Jordan had established with Pope John Paul II to discuss ways in which Muslims and Christians can continue to work together for peace, tolerance and coexistence.

The King announced on 2 March 2007 municipal elections in Jordan and in 25 November 2006 in his parliament address, told the parliament to work on reforms of the press and publication law.

King Abdullah II has worked for the Middle East Peace Process, attending the Arab Summit in 2002, OIC conferences and having several summits with US, Israeli and Palestinian delegations to find a solution for the Israeli - Palestinian Conflict.

Jordan received criticism when Toujan al-Faisal, Jordan's first female member of Parliament and an outspoken advocate for freedom of expression and human rights, was jailed for slandering the government after she charged it with corruption in a letter to Abdullah. She was pardoned and released by King Abdullah. Despite these events, King Abdullah has continued his aggressive liberalization of Jordan's media. He recently issued a declaration forbidding detention of journalists in Jordan.

Major General Yair Naveh, GOC of the Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command and former GOC of Israeli Central Command, said in a gathering with reporters that King Abdullah might fall and that he could be Jordan's last king. The statement created tension between the two countries, and afterwards Naveh retracted his statement and apologized. Later, the Israeli prime minister Olmert expressed the disagreement of Israel with Naveh's statement, and referred to it as a personal and irrelevant view.

In March 2007, Ehud Olmert commented on any American withdrawal from Iraq by saying that, "Israel is worried a hasty American withdrawal from Iraq could have negative impact on the Hashemite regime in Jordan..." Jordan's spokesman Nasser Jawdeh replied by saying, "The Israeli prime minister should worry about his political future before worrying about us."

King Abdullah has a strong belief in a powerful military and has led Jordan into adopting a "quality over quantity" policy. This policy has led Jordan to acquire advanced weaponry and greatly increase and enhance its F-16 fighter jet fleet. The ground forces have acquired the Challenger 1 main battle tank, a vehicle far superior to the T-72/55 tanks that have traditionally dominated Arab armies.

On 28 November 2004, Abdullah removed the title of Crown Prince from his half-brother, Hamzah, whom he had appointed on 7 February 1999, in accordance with their late father's wishes. In a letter from Abdullah to Hamzah, read on Jordanian state television, he said, "Your holding this symbolic position has restrained your freedom and hindered our entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you are fully qualified to undertake." No successor to the title was named at that time, but it was anticipated that Abdullah intended to appoint formally his own son, Prince Hussein as crown prince. On 2 July 2009, Abdullah indeed named Prince Hussein as heir apparent.

In 2005 BBC international published an article titled "Jordan edging towards democracy", where King Abdullah expressed his intentions of making Jordan a democratic country. According to the article, president George W. Bush "urged King Abdullah, a U.S. ally, to take steps towards democracy." Thus far, however, democratic development has been limited, with the monarchy maintaining most power and its allies dominating parliament.

Elections were held in November 2010, and following the Arab Spring 2011, a new prime minister was appointed. In June 2011 the King has announced a move to a British style of Cabinet Government.

Jordan has embarked on an aggressive economic liberalization program under King Abdullah II in an effort to stimulate the economy and raise the standard of living. Therefore, Jordan's economic growth peaked at 8 percent in 2004 and has been averaging at 7 percent. King Abdullah II has liberalized the telecommunications sector and has implemented an ICT curriculum into Jordan's education system. This has made Jordan's telecommunications sector the most competitive in the region. King Abdullah called on the government to lower internet prices in an effort to increase internet penetration to 50% by 2010. He is also very involved in promoting Jordan's tourism sector, especially with the establishment of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone.

Under King Abdullah II, the air transport sector was liberalized. Also, King Abdullah II established six special economic zones: Aqaba, Ma'an, Mafraq, Irbid, the Dead Sea, and Ajloun. Each SEZ has its own niche which will carve a unique identity for that region of Jordan. The Aqaba SEZ is primarily devoted to tourism and industry. The Ma'an SEZ is industrial primarily with a focus on renewable energy resources especially solar energy. The world's largest solar power plant will be constructed in Ma'an. The Mafraq SEZ will become a regional hub in transport and logistics with planned air, road, and rail connections to neighboring countries. The Irbid SEZ is adjacent to the Jordan University of Science and Technology and it will focus on scientific and medical facilities. The recently launched Dead Sea zone will focus on tourism and entertainment. The Ajloun SEZ consists of 24 proposed tourism projects, including a 2,000 dunum tourism city that will comprise 900 hotel rooms, restaurants, and other entertainment facilities with environmental considerations.

On 20 January 2007, King Abdullah revealed to Haaretz that Jordan has plans to develop nuclear power for internal energy purposes because unlike other countries in the region Jordan has almost no oil. Jordan is one of the few non - petroleum producing nations in the region and is strategically dependent on oil from its neighbor, Iraq. Continuing civil unrest in Iraq puts Jordanian national and energy security at risk. Jordan's first nuclear power plant was to be ready by 2015 and it would be located in Aqaba. There are more nuclear power plants planned in Karak and near the proposed Red Sea - Dead Sea project which will provide Jordan with all the much needed water resources it needs, it will also supply the shrinking Dead Sea and nuclear power plants with water. In turn, the nuclear power plants will desalinate the water and pump it to northern Jordan. (According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jordan is one of the poorest countries in terms of access to drinking water.)

In 2010, King Abdullah proposed a World Interfaith Harmony Week at the UN, to promote a culture of peace; the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief; and the promotion of Inter - religious dialogue.

King Abdullah is married to Rania al-Abdullah. They have four children:

• Crown Prince Hussein (born 28 June 1994)
• Princess Iman (born 27 September 1996)
• Princess Salma (born 26 September 2000)
• Prince Hashem (born 30 January 2005)

King Abdullah has many interests. He has a love and passion for sky diving, rally racing, scuba diving and science fiction. He promotes tourism in Jordan, having acted as a tour guide for Discovery Channel travel host Peter Greenberg in order to produce a show called "Jordan: The Royal Tour". In the program the king notes that since assuming the throne, he is no longer permitted to sky dive. King Abdullah also likes motorcycles, and toured Northern California on a Harley - Davidson in July 2010.

King Abdullah attended Deerfield Academy in his youth, and in appreciation of the schooling he received, he has created a sister institution King's Academy in Jordan. He hired Deerfield Headmaster Eric Widmer to lead it, along with many other Deerfield staff. Prior to Deerfield, King Abdullah attended Eaglebrook School.

He is the Colonel - in - Chief of the UK Light Dragoons regiment; his previous connection to the unit includes his service as a Troop Leader in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars.

The king is also an acknowledged fan of the science fiction saga Star Trek. In 1996, while he was still a Prince, he appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Investigations". It was a non - speaking role as he was not a member of the Screen Actors Guild. A Star Trek theme park will open in 2014 as part of the $1.5 billion Red Sea Astrarium project in Aqaba, with the King being the majority local investor.

His interest in the film industry has also influenced his decision to create the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in the Red Sea coastal town of Aqaba, in partnership with the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts on 20 September 2006. When the crew of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen decided that they were going to film in Jordan, he called on 38 military helicopters to help transport equipment into Petra.

King Abdullah II has a great interest in the internet and information technology. This is one of the reasons why he put ICT at the forefront of Jordan's economic development. In an unprecedented move, King Abdullah commented on two Jordanian blogs that discussed his interview with the Petra News Agency, the Black Iris and the newspaper daily Ad-Dustor, showing his support for dialogue and debate in the Kingdom. His comment on the blogs was as follows:

"Thank you all for your feedback and comments. I am very happy and proud to see so many responsible citizens engaging in this dialogue. People must not be afraid to express their opinions without using aliases. We are a country of freedom, tolerance, diversity and openness, and everyone has the right to express their thoughts – no matter what they are – in an atmosphere of respect, so long as they are not personally offending others, attempting character assassination or undermining the nation’s interest. Your comments only indicate how deeply you care about Jordan and its future and I am happy that we are partners in the development process."

—King Abdullah II