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Interview with His Excellency Mr Nasser Judeh,

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

It is not often that you our achievements and to build
meet a Minister of on them, and to be a country
Foreign Affairs who has a that fulfils its mission as a hub
fan page on Facebook, in this region. Traditionally
but this is the case of His and historically, Jordan has
Excellency Mr Nasser always been a crossroads of
Judeh. He is extremely civilizations, and even in this
popular among his com- modem day and age Jordan is
patriots and the reason is still at the heart of the Middle
that not only is he dyna- East.
mic and clever, but also a
man who represents a Our biggest priority, in order
new generation of offi- to fulfil the dreams we have
cials in the Middle East -- for our people, is to see peace,
those who are there to security and stability reign in
make a difference to their this region. I think the biggest
country. As he says him- problem that we have is the
self: "I'm a Jordanian Arab-Israeli conflict, at the
who is proud of my coun- core which is the Palestinian
try". problem. This is perhaps the
driving force behind our mis-
Despite his very busy sion in foreign policy.
schedule, His Excellency
took the time to receive Radio and Television Majesty the King, a leader In Jordan, His Majesty the
us and to answer our Corporation, which is the who is respected worldwide; a King believes that the Arab-
leader whose vision and
National
questions at the Ministry Jordanian Israeli conflict is a major
of Foreign Affairs in Broadcasting Company. I had whose dedication to his peo- impediment to progress in the
Amman. been head of the Jordan ple is admirable and is a bles- region, to the pursuit of a bet-
Information Bureau in sing from the Almighty. ter life and to the creation of
Q: First of all your London for two years. I set it opportunities.
Excellency, thank you so up and oversaw it. I had alrea- Jordan is a dynamic, vibrant
much taking time in your dy worked for eight years at country and we have invested There is a vast potential in this
busy schedule to receive the Royal Palace with His a lot over the decades in edu- region that remains untapped
us. Could tell us who you Majesty the late King cation and in human capital. It has been waiting to be
are? Hussein, and then with the We do not have natural unleashed for so long -- regio-
Crown Prince. I was educated resources to speak of. Right nal co-operation within this
My name is Nasser Judeh. I'm in the United States at now, we have discovered region, and regional co-opera-
the Minister of Foreign Georgetown University in large reserves of uranium, and tion with other regions. It has
Affairs for the Hashemite Washington, D.C., having we are pursuing exploration of perhaps not been pursued as
Kingdom of Jordan. I have been at public school in oil and gas. We have one of vigorously as one could have
been Foreign Minister since England for a few years, while the largest reserves where oil wished, because of the absen-
February 2009. Before that I my elementary education had can be extracted from the sur- ce of political stability and an
had also been a member of the taken place here in Jordan. I face of the earth (oil shale), atmosphere conducive to such
Cabinet as Minister of State was born in Amman and I'm but generally speaking we co-operative projects.
proud to be a Jordanian ser-
Media
for have built what you see -- this
and
Communication. Earlier, I ving his king and country. dynamic society -- out of self- A large percentage of
was the official spokesperson reliance with very meagre Jordanians are young people.
for the Government, and befo- Q: Your country is a pea- natural resources. His Majesty the King, in a
re that I worked for a very ceful haven among "trou- recent TV interview said: "I'm
brief period in the private sec- bled neighbours" What We always say that our big- 48 years old and I'm older
tor. are the priorities of gest resource is our human than 70% of the population of
Jordanian foreign poli- capital, and we are very proud my country." So this is a
My career has always been in cy? of our Jordanian citizens who young society, a dynamic
the Government. Back in have contributed to the econo- society, an educated society --
1998 I was Minister of Regardless of the turbulence mies of so many countries in a society with a lot of potential
Information, and before that I we have in the region, we are the region. and this is also true, I think, of
was Director-General of the a country that is blessed with other societies in the region.
an enlightened leadership: His Our objective is to maintain So we need to find what
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