Jordan’s economy could benefit from Palestine confederation

With US Secretary of State John Kerry back in the Middle East this week, new ideas are being touted to revive the Arab-Israeli peace process – with a confederation between Jordan and an independent Palestine among those getting traffic. While it is deeply controversial and unpopular with much of the political classes in both Jordan and Palestine, the economic benefits of such an agreement for Jordanians could be significant. The idea itself isn’t new at all: under various guises, confederal schemes have been under discussion for decades. The new proposal, however, is slightly different. Each state would remain politically independent – having its own administration, including government, parliament, police, and judicial structure, as well as a separate educational system etc. Only in specific issues regarding the outside world would the operate as one: areas as currency, tariffs, customs, and of course as defense and foreign policy. It must be said