How did the forty-third direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, King Abdullah ibn Al Hussein (King Abdullah II) of Jordan, weather the 2011 Arab Spring, stabilise his rule and attempt to transition towards reform rather than succumb to revolution? I attempt here to explain Abdullah II's actions as a ruler who has survived up until now using my Pendulum Model. The explanatory value of this dynamic, interactive model of the relationship between rulers and ruled at times of crisis is assessed, as Abdullah II (unlike the secular leaders of the Middle East, who were toppled) resorted to religion, which permeated his other methods of co-optation, repression and, especially, political liberalisation, and which lessened the severity of the hierarchical dissonance in values experienced at the crisispoint in the 2011 Arab Spring between rulers and ruled, and hence contributed to the survival of the regime by making accommodation and reform more tenable.

The King was always aware of the significance of his lineage and emphasised it on every occasion, but he was also realistic enough to recognise the dangers he faced. In his most recent book, entitled Our Last Best Chance, he wrote: ‘The Hashemite lineage has always commanded respect across the Arab and Muslim world, but our traditional moderation, coupled with our openness to the West, has often made us a target of extremists’ (King Abdullah II of Jordan 2011: 245). Specifically, he always emphasised his piety. For example, in the chapter entitled ‘My Islam’ he wrote: ‘As the head of a country, I pray for my people, for improvement in their standard of living and health. Sometimes I pray for specific things like creating more jobs for young people’ (King Abdullah II of Jordan 2011: 240). He wrote this out of an awareness of the demands of young unemployed protesters.

Indeed, according to a Pew Study, Jordanians preferred a strong economy (61 per cent) to a good democracy (33 per cent). Jordanians were not as enthusiastic for democracy as Tunisians and Egyptians. Further, Jordanians responded that they would prefer a larger role for Islam in the politics of the country (Pew Study 2012: 2, 3).