This study argues that as new leaderships assumed power in Jordan and Syria, fundamental changes occurred in the state building processes unlike any previously witnessed. The fundamental tenets of legitimacy in these states is transformed while simultaneous challenges in institutional, political and economic terms are equally significant. These transformations are also underlined by significant changes in the domestic and regional security environment that highly influenced the state building processes for the past five decades

This research, therefore, considers and analyses the dynamics and linkages between state legitimacy, security, political economy and institutions in its approach to the study of state building processes

The study hopes to provide some theoretical and empirical input to the contemporary analysis of politics in Jordan, which could more adequately explain the nature of challenges new leaderships in many Arab states are facing at the outset of the 21st century