Jordan lies at the epicenter of a fragmenting Arab state system and the changing regional order. Its government is semi-autocratic with pervading attributes of neo-patrimonialism and the security state, both of which have led to a fragile civil society. This paper examines Jordan’s emerging social entrepreneurship scene. Briefly, social entrepreneurship refers to the employment of business-like tactics to achieve primarily social goals. The ‘ecosystem’ for social enterprises in the country is nascent, but they nevertheless constitute an important part of the country’s civil society that deserves investigation. International organizations and foreign governments alike have championed social entrepreneurship in Jordan because they see it as a promising vehicle for economic prosperity and citizen participation leading to greater state stability. In addition, entrepreneurship promotion efforts seek to address the various concerns raised by Jordan’s “youth bulge.” Much of the existing literature discussing social entrepreneurship in the Middle East takes a positive and hopeful approach; in contrast, this paper presents a critical review of its actual functions and the system within which it operates. Based on over forty semi-structured interviews which took place from January to April 2018, the paper first discusses, briefly, the types of social entrepreneurs and their respective objectives, functions, and challenges. Secondly, the paper investigates whether social entrepreneurship can act as an effective and independent agent of social change, rather than constituting an extension of the monarchy’s realm of influence. The paper explores Western governments’ and INGOs’ influence on social enterprises through material and immaterial support, and discusses the ways in which the Jordanian regime uses soft power through bureaucratic obstacles, oversight, a foreign funding control mechanism, and in some cases co-optation to manage and control the work of social enterprises. In this context, the paper outlines how financial independence, the use of social capital, and official registration as a company rather than a non-governmental organization can increase a social enterprise’s chances of achieving its objectives without external interference and functioning as a truly community-responsive organization, rather than beholden to the demands of the regime and the international community. The paper concludes that only select few social enterprises can achieve this, and that most are ultimately extensions of the regime’s neopatrimonial rule and the international community’s desire to uphold neoliberal institutions and Jordanian stability.