NATO Opens First Liaison Office In The Arab World

NATO has set up permanent shop in the Middle East, on Thursday announcing its first liaison office in the Arab world, located in Jordan. A formal NATO statement confirmed the “first-ever liaison office in the region, in Amman, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” which demonstrates the “deep strategic partnership between Jordan and the Alliance.”

“Emphasizing the evolving regional and global security landscape, Allies at the 2024 NATO Summit in Washington DC adopted an action plan for a stronger, more strategic and result-oriented approach towards its southern neighborhood,” the alliance said. 

Image source: NATO

“The plan clearly demonstrates NATO’s commitment to reinforcing engagement and cooperation with its partners in the Middle East and North Africa, including through the establishment of its first-ever liaison office in the region, in Amman, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” it added. 

But NATO has already long been active militarily in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, having been part of major interventions and regime change operations from Afghanistan, to Iraq, to Libya, to Syria. 

For example, following UN resolution 1973, NATO bombed Libya and imposed a no-fly zone over it in order ultimately to remove Muammar Gaddafi. After that, NATO countries used member state Turkey as a base of operations to support anti-Assad insurgents as part of efforts to topple the government in Damascus, which ultimately failed.

Jordan too was used an a base of US and Western allied intelligence operations connected to Syria operations. The fact remains that Jordan has already long been very ‘friendly’ to Western intelligence.

The NATO statement alludes to this longtime cooperation with Amman in the following: “Building on nearly three decades of deep-rooted bilateral relations, particularly through the Mediterranean Dialogue, the opening of a NATO Liaison Office in Amman is a natural progression of the longstanding relationship between NATO and Jordan, which will only continue to grow.”

Jordan’s official Arabic language confirmation…

أعلنت وزارة الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين عن إنشاء مكتب اتصال لحلف شمال الأطلسي في المملكة، وبما يسهم في تعزيز علاقات التعاون المشترك مع الحلف.

وأصدرت الوزارة البيان المشترك التالي مع الحلف حول قرار فتح المكتب في عمّان:

اعتمد الحلفاء في قمة الناتو (حلف شمال الأطلسي) لعام ٢٠٢٤ في… pic.twitter.com/2MefCSnuFC

— وزارة الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين الأردنية (@ForeignMinistry) July 10, 2024

Likely other regional powers will not look too kindly upon Jordan hosting a permanent NATO office, particularly the governments in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.

It will also underscore for many Arabs the image of the Western bloc as a constant interventionist power in the region, ultimately led by the American hegemon.