"Wandering off the reservation"

The Forward on Abdullah, the puppet-king of Jordan -- how many countries' leaders do you think are regularly spoken about in this manner?

Even Jordan, one of the most pro-Western, anti-fundamentalist regimes in the Arab world, is testing the waters. Jordanian defense officials met with senior officials from Hamas over the past few weeks to talk security. The powwow was a direct breach of the strict quarantine around Hamas leaders declared by Washington. A year ago, Jordan’s young king would not have dreamed of wandering so far off the reservation. Right now, though, the Hashemite kingdom evidently sees which way the wind is blowing and does not want to be caught short.

[From The Shifting Ground - Forward.com"]

Comments

[Helena Cobban]

Well, I have used it any number of times over the years in reference to leaders defying the known desires of powers with hegemonic worldviews. Most notably, perhaps, when the Saudis hosted the Mecca Accord of short-lived fame.

Yes, that one also involved dealing Hamas in.

In recent years Washington has rapidly been losing the capability of monopolizing all aspects of Middle East diplomacy that is has guarded so jealously since before the end of the Cold War.

[SP]

Seems to be the Washington jargony phrase du jour.

http://www.slate.com/id/2198669/pagenum/2/

And the ultimate giveaway that all this has less to do with Hillary Clinton than with her voters is not just the fact that she cannot get them back onto the reservation. The real proof that this is about us is that the individual who stands to lose most if the Hillary Holdouts help to elect John McCain is, of course, Clinton herself.