When protests on a scale of the Arab spring that rocked the Middle East in 2011 swept Jordan this month, alarm bells rang loudly across the region.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) swiftly promised US$2.5 billion to stave off an economic crisis triggered by tax rises linked to an IMF austerity programme aimed at stabilising the country’s finances.

The aid, agreed with unusual speed for the region, at a summit with Jordan’s King Abdullah and the leaders of the three Gulf states in the Saudi holy city of Mecca, reflected the unique and sensitive position of Jordan, a beacon of relative stability in a troubled region.

Indeed, only yesterday Jordan played host to the Duke of Cambridge as he made a pilgrimage to the spot in a Roman ruined city in Jordan where his wife posed for a picture when just a little girl. William spoke about how Kate "loved" living in Jordan as a youngster, when he arrived in the country on Tuesday - the first day of an historic visit to the Middle East.

However, the aid from the neighbouring states was not guaranteed. After a bail-out to head off the Arab spring in 2011, Saudi Arabia has taken a less positive view of the key Levantine state over its refusals to join a Saudi-led alliance fighting Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen in a meaningful way and join a Saudi-led boycott of Qatar.

Qatar separately donated $500 million and promised 10,000 jobs for Jordanians.

And emphasising the strategic importance of Jordan German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week offered a $100 million loan during a visit to Amman.

The revolt triggered the firing by the king of Prime Minister Hani Mulki and his replacement by a well-regarded former World Bank economist Omar Razzaz whose first act on being appointed was to withdraw the controversial tax bill that started the unrest.

The tax law would have seen more people paying from their wages as well as bigger taxes on companies and banks. The reforms, conditions for an IMF loan, had earlier in the year seen bread prices nearly double.

Jordan, a key US ally and along with Egypt the only Arab states with a peace deal with Israel, has borne the brunt of Middle East conflicts over the years.

Its economy has been hard hit by regional crises, border closures that disrupted export routes, interruptions of gas supplies from Egypt and a huge influx of some 700,000 refugees from neighbouring Syria.

Unemployment in the nation of 6.5 million people which geographically links the Levant with the Gulf states is above 18 per cent, the highest in years, while poverty stands at 14.4 per cent.

The Gulf states have a history of buying stability in the face of revolt, injecting US$10 billion into Bahrain and Oman when these two poorer members of the six-national Gulf Cooperation Council faced unrest.

Foreign aid pours in given it is in everyone’s interest that this oasis of relative calm in the Levant survives. However, new challenges are emerging as Gulf states embark on ambitious programmes to provide employment for their own youthful populations and diversify away from oil.

That poses a threat to the 800,000 Jordanians who work in the Gulf and send home more than US$2 billion a year.

Jordan has a long history of surviving protests and uprisings, not least thanks to deft handling since 1999 by the current king and before that his late father, Harrow-educated and urbane King Hussein who ruled from 1952.

Back in 1989 there were large-scale protests, the king sacked the government, the new government rolled back economic cutbacks and foreign aid flowed in. And there were more economic protests in 1996 and 2012 as well.

But Jordanian protests are unlike those of the Arab spring in the region. Security forces show enormous restraint, not least for fear of triggering a backlash, and analysts say only one person has been killed in demonstrations in the past decade.

And as in Lebanon, where memories of the brutal 1975-90 brutal civil war that killed some 120,000 people keep the fragile country together, watching the horrors in neighbouring Syria has a moderating effect on protestors.

Jordan does not want for challenges. It has no oil and depends on foreign aid. It had to absorb Palestinian influxes and Palestinians now make up some two-thirds of the population.

The public sector is bloated, food subsidies are generous and a tiny percentage of the population pay taxes.

But it is a beautiful country with fascinating historical sites, not least world-famous Petra, the Nabatean capital from around 300 BC. Wadi Rum gives tourists a spectacular view of the desert and even has a ruins which guides say was used by T.E. Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia.

Tourism, which historically was around 20 per cent of gross domestic product, however, has fallen by some two thirds since 2011, amid concern over the situation in Syria. The risk is more perception than reality despite an Islamic State attack in 2016 and the British Foreign Office only advise against going close to the Syrian border.

The latest uprising has made headlines around the world with comparisons to the Arab spring.

Barring a major upset the cycle of economic problems, protests, prime ministerial sackings and foreign aid will herald the return of another period of peace. For how long in this volatile region of changing alliances is an open question.