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He was the eldest son of the Jordanian royal couple: King Ibn Talal Hussein (1935-1999), who ascended the throne in 1952 and was married for a second time until 1971 to British Toni Gardiner. Thanks to his British mother, Abdullah attended school in England and later college in the USA. Afterward, he trained at military academies in the US and Britain. During this period, he also spent some time with British occupying forces in the Federal Republic. Abdullah enrolled in political science courses at Oxford and Georgetown universities but did not graduate. Upon returning to Jordan, he pursued a military career.
In 1994, he was promoted to major general. Although his uncle, Hassan Ibn Talal, had previously been crown prince, the ailing king named his eldest son as heir in January 1999. When his father died on February 7, 1999, Abdullah was proclaimed King of Jordan as Abdullah II on the same day. A month later, he expressed a desire for reform by appointing a new government. Abdullah II took a firm stance on the Palestinian issue, representing at least 60% of the population: he banned the controversial Hamas movement, deported its leaders, and arrested numerous members.
After Jordan had supported Saddam Hussein during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait in the early 1990s, the country sought a more independent stance toward Iraq and aimed to strengthen ties with the West, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. However, internally, Abdullah II struggled to implement necessary economic and administrative reforms. Democratic progress and political revitalization were neglected. Following the terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11, 2001, orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, Abdullah II appealed to the West in February 2002 for comprehensive economic aid for Arab-Muslim countries.
Politically, Jordan remained under police-state conditions, a situation noted by foreign media: in summer 2002, the TV channel Al Jazeera's station was closed due to critical reporting on the Israel policies of Abdullah II's predecessors, and journalists were expelled. Since 1993, Abdullah II has been married to Rania Al-Jassin, a Palestinian native, and they have four children: Prince Hussein (1994), Princess Iman (1996), Princess Salma (2000), and Prince Hashim (2005).
