Our Last Best Chance: The Pursuit of Peace in a Time of Peril (Arabic: فرصتنا الأخيرة: السعي نحو السلام في وقت الخطر ) is a book written by King Abdullah II of Jordan and published by Viking Press in New York City. The book is available in eight languages, highlights King Abdullah's vision towards resolving the Arab–Israeli conflict, as well as the challenges facing the Middle East.
Book contents
In “Our Last Best Chance”, King Abdullah writes as both a monarch bestowing wisdom from above and as a man whose life has been intertwined with war and making the case for peace. The memoir opens during the 1967 war, when the King, then a toddler, is dared by his brother to race across the lawn in the middle of an Israeli air raid. An explosion reverberates in the distance and the then-crown prince runs back into the house without having reached the other side. The incident serves as a potent symbol: Unsolved, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict looms over the region, threatening to disrupt daily life at a moment's notice. The King goes on to detail his formative years, from staring down anti-Arab stereotypes at a US boarding school to his military career in Zarqa and proposing to Rania Yassin on Tal Rumman.
In the first two parts of the memoir, covering the King's childhood up to his ascension to the Throne, King Hussein looms large, offering his son lessons in honour and diplomacy while steering Jordan through uncertain waters. When King Hussein falls ill, and the line of succession unexpectedly falls to the author, King Abdullah provides an intimate account of how he faced the sudden responsibility of becoming King while coming to terms with his father's death. Upon ascending to the Throne, overhauling the country's economy was a top priority, the King writes, listing Jordan's membership in the World Trade Organization and the US Free Trade Agreement among his top achievements in his first years. King Abdullah goes on to highlight Jordanian success stories, including Maktoob.com, Rubicon, the King's Academy, the King Abdullah Design Bureau, the domestic film industry and the peaceful nuclear program, taking clear pride in each as a success for the country, each innovation as a step forward in the Kingdom's development process. But, as the King notes, governance is not as orderly as the army. Directives go unheeded, deadlines are missed and rather than bullets or mortars, progress is threatened by excuses and delays.
Despite the initial progress on the economic front, King Abdullah candidly admits that political development in the Kingdom over the past decade has at times been “two steps forward, one step back”. “Some have resisted change out of fear of losing privileges they have long enjoyed, while others simply lacked imagination,” King Abdullah writes. “Some officials did not have the courage to push forward with difficult changes.” The Monarch goes on to note a “dysfunctional” relationship between executive and legislative authorities, “hindering efforts to address broader social and economic issues”. He notes that such tensions and the public's loss of faith in the 15th Parliament in 2009 led to its dissolution. While delving into affairs at home, the memoir also sheds light on life as the head of state in a dangerous neighbourhood. The country is tested by the fallout of the US invasion of Iraq, followed by the Lebanon-Israeli conflict and the war on Gaza. The King notes that in each conflict, Jordan played a role larger than its size, sending medical aid and field hospitals, organizing aid convoys, repairing airports and hosting thousands of refugees.