{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.024249004705030764, 'fraction_numerical': 0.004705030763662686, 'mean_word_length': 4.995661605206074, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The Jordanian Economy, by Omar Marashdeh . 170 pages, notes, tables, appendices, index. Penang, Malaysia: Dr. Omar Marashdeh, 1995. (Paper)

The starting point of the book is the familiar issue that as population increases and water supply remains constant, water availability per capita drops. The overall theme of the book is the search for solutions to this problem, which threatens to intensify the conflict among the riparian states of the Jordan/Yarmouk basin. One set of solutions explored throughout the book is the ability to exercise demand management by promoting "more desirable levels and patterns of water use" (p. 59). One such mechanism is pricing of water. Five chapters contain very useful and detailed accounts of the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian experience with demand management and savings strategies. Not surprisingly, while Israel can point to specific strategies and their results, the Palestinians' policies and regulations for a demand strategy are currently under review. Even though the entire volume is kept in a very "cooperative tone" between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, the Palestinian contributors cannot help but point out that management of water resources is impossible as long as the issue of water rights is not resolved, and Israel continues to exercise control over most of the water in the West Bank aquifers. Tony Allan's paper highlights the fact that the region ran out of surface water by the end of the 1960s, except in Turkey and Lebanon. This left the countries with demand management as their only long-term policy alternative. Meanwhile, these countries have attempted to cover their water deficit with "virtual water," the water included in imported food. Implementation of this strategy has been facilitated by a plentiful world market for food and by historically low prices on food, mainly due to the high level of government subsidies, e.g., the US. Allan warns that this situation might not prevail. Cheap and secure food may not be so readily available in the future. The remaining three papers in the book are included under the heading of regional and international context. One of these papers deals with the IsraeliPalestinian conflict over the Mountain Aquifer, the second is a historical account of the exploitation of the Jordan/Yarmouk waters, and the third presents a multicriteria decision aid to rank the Jordan/Yarmouk basin co-riparians according to the Helsinki and International Law Commission (ILC) rules. Each contribution is useful. This book provides much new insight into the issue of allocation and management of water resources in the Jordan basin and is essential reading for scholars, practitioners and advanced students of this subject. MARTIN HVIDT Odense University