King Hussein was the only leader most Jordanians have ever known. He came to the throne in 1952 after the assassination in Jerusalem of his grandfather, King Abdullah. Harry Truman was the American president, the Soviet Union still existed, and no one had ever heard of the Internet. A lot has changed since then but one constant remains-there is still no lasting peace agreement among the Arab and Israelis.

Hussein's last major diplomatic effort was last fall during the Wye Plantation Agreement reached between Israel and the Palestinians. In a tribute to the king's stature, President Bill Clinton called the king from his treatments in Minnesota to help broker the agreement. The absence of the king in the Mideast relations will leave a vacuum that someone will have to fill.

A recent special documentary on America's Public Broadcasting Network, titled "The Fifty Year War Between the Arabs and Israelis," highlighted the special focus that Jordan has played in the region. When Israel took control of a divided Jerusalem in 1967 it was Jordan which lost its hold on the holy sites of the Temple Mount. The Palestinian Liberation Organization's roots are in the dispossessed inhabitants of Jordan. More than half its population are Palestinians. King Hussein was only the second Arab leader, behind Anwar Sadat, to have negotiated a peace agreement with Israel. Having survived internal uprisings, and the constant intrigues of Mideast religion and politics, Hussein showed himself to be an adroit and nimble survivor.

It appears the king's final decision was to change his designated heir. Will thsi move be like that of Shakespeare's King Lear, who tried to control his succession and met disastrous results? The implications of this decision will have far reaching effects on the Mideast situation.