UAE and Qatar branded 'most stable' Arab states

A study looking at fragile states has declared the UAE and Qatar as the most stable Arab nations in the world.

1 min read

The New Arab

13 Mar, 2016

GCC states dominated the top ranks for stability in the Middle East [Getty]

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar are the only two Arab nations to be ranked 'stable' in an annual study looking at state security.

The UAE landed in 35^th place with Qatar following one step behind,in a study looking at 178 countries worldwide.

Oman and Kuwait were categorised 'less stable' while Bahrain sat in a list of 'low warning' nations.

Saudi Arabia - the last of the GCC states - fell into the 'warning' pile along with Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Algeria.

With emphasis on factionalised elites and human rights, Iran came in at 134 in a 'high warning' list that included Lebanon.

Egypt and Libya, which have both seen scenes of violence and instability since the 2011 uprisings were found in the 'alert' category while Iraq, Syria and Yemen were branded 'high alert'.

Sudan and South Sudan were among other African nations to dominate the 'very high alert' group.

The Fragile States Index focuses on different factors including refugee intake, economic development, human rights and rule of law among other issues.