 On the morning of April 17, 2007, Jordan Queen Rania Al-Abdullah received our delegation at her modern palace office complex atop a desert hill in Amman. The 22 Americans who shook the Queen's hand that morning were women who shared a hefty appetite for making a difference - in education, on behalf of underprivileged youth, in cancer research, on health needs in developing nations.
Despite their diverse causes, these women - like so many Americans - were united in the hope that the yawning and dangerous cultural gulf between the U.S. and Arab worlds could be bridged. "Our mission was very bold, even presumptuous," noted Beth Slifer, CEO of Slifer Designs and governing board director of the University of Colorado Hospital. During their one-week stay, the Americans would meet with top government ministers and school girls, Amman's mayor and city entrepreneurs, the US ambassador and local teachers. The goal of this inaugural trip was to set aside long-held presumptions and biases - and to simply listen, a first step toward building a bridge of understanding. What the Americans heard that week were Jordanians determined to build a more peaceful, prosperous future for this small but critical nation as it sits astride roiling Middle East violence and battles growing Islamic extremism among its neighbors.
The 36-year-old Queen's own life is an intersection of cultural bridges. Born in Kuwait to Palestinian-Jordanian parents, the daughter of a doctor who grew up on the West Bank, a business-degree graduate of Cairo's American University, she once worked in marketing at Apple Computer. In the eight years since her husband King Abdullah II unexpectedly succeeded to the throne, this mother of four has since taken full advantage of her job (as she calls it) to work toward building a modern civil society in Jordan. Her efforts include launching a micro-loan program to develop village entrepreneurs, and initiating reforms in the nation's school system.
During the meeting, the Queen detailed a modernization agenda that focused on developing the nation's human capital - improving education, bringing more women into the economy, and bolstering the nation's technology and medicine sectors. Despite economic gains and increased foreign investment, Jordan's economy remains fragile - with no oil, a shortage of water, and the enduring stress of nearly a million Iraqi refugees who have poured across the border since 2003. Nearly half of the Jordanian population has Palestinian roots, so the Israeli-Palestinian problem cuts close - both geographically and emotionally. While Jordan is more open, progressive and modern than its surrounding neighbors, it remains an absolute monarchy with strict political controls and severe restrictions on free speech and press.
Attuned to both the nation's potential and its challenges, Queen Rania has made it her mission build a stable and enduring infrastructure inside Jordan - and to promote understanding of her nation outside. She stressed the importance of American support for moderate nations such as Jordan, returning repeatedly to the themes of the Amman Message. This 2004 document, initiated by her husband and signed by moderate Arab leaders, describes Islam as a religion of tolerance and peace, and denounces violent extremists.
In comments that the Americans would hear echoed throughout the trip, the Queen insisted that democracy cannot survive in the Middle East without first constructing the foundations of a civil society - peaceful political parties, broad education, a free press, and other democratic institutions. Citing the troubles building a democracy in Iraq, as well as the radical Hamas' rise to power through elections in Gaza, she declared: "Elections are the icing on the cake. "
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