Personal Info
- Country of residence: Jordan
Information
Adnan S. Abu Odeh was born in Nablus, Palestine on 10 November 1933. Upon completing his studies and training in Amman's Teachers' Training College in 1954 he became a schoolteacher in Jordan. In 1959 he graduated from the school of Arts at Damascus University in Syria and had a teaching job with the government of Kuwait. In 1965 he joined Jordan's General Intelligence Department as a political analyst Through Abu ode's new job late King Hussein of Jordan got to know him personally In September 1970 the King chose him to hold the portfolio of Culture and Information in the short-lived military cabinet he set up to restore Law and order which had deteriorated due the chaotic activities of the Palestinian Fedayeen in the country. Since then he had held a number of public positions in the government except for one year (1975-1976) when he became a fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. King Hussein brought him closer to him in 1984, when he appointed him Minster of Court. In 1988 he became his Political Advisor and in 1991, the Chief of the Royal Court. Mr. Abu Odeh was appointed Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations, New York in 1992, and in 1995 he retired. In September 1995 he became a senior fellow for one year at the United States Institute of peace in Washington D.C. In 1997 he was hosted by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for six months and by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. for four months. King Abdulla II of Jordan appointed him his Political Advisor. In 1999, and in 2000, Mr. Abu Odeh resigned his post. In March 2004 he was elected to membership of the Board of Trustees of International Crisis Group (ICG) for a two-year term. Mr. Abu Odeh is the author of two books: one in English (Jordanians, Palestinians and the Hashemite Kingdom in the M.E. Peace Process - USIP, Washington D.C.1999) and the other in Arabic. He is also author of numerous articles published in a number of periodicals. One of them is (Two Capitals in An Undivided Jerusalem - Foreign Affairs, Spring 1992).
Source
Achievements and Awards
He was a senator in the Jordanian House of Parliament from 1998-1999, when he was appointed political advisor to King Abdullah. He served as Jordan's permanent representative to the UN (1992-1995), non-resident Ambassador of Jordan to Cuba (1993-1995), Chief of the Royal Court in Jordan (1991-1992), Minister of Information (1976-1979 and 1980-1984), and Political Advisor to King Hussein (1988-1991), Minister of the Court (1984-1988) and Minister of Culture and Information (1970-1972 and 1973-1974). Publications: Adnan Abu Odeh, Jordanians, Palestinians, and the Hashemite Kingdom in the Middle East Peace Process Publisher: United States Institute of Peace Press (August 1999). Adnan Abu Odeh, "Two Capitals in an Undivided Jerusalem", Foreign Affairs, Spring 1992.
- Years in active
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