MENA rattled by post-Arab spring difficulties; Israel’s ranking clipped: ECR Q1 2013

The Middle East and North African (MENA) region witnessed disparate score shifts in Q1 2013. The North African sovereigns generally performed the worst, highlighting instabilities affecting the region since the Arab Spring uprising.

With the exception of Morocco – a three-place climber in the rankings to 71 – Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and war-torn Libya have all succumbed to increased risk perceptions with downgraded scores across the board.

The unrest and interconnected problems in Egypt saw it shed 2.3 points and become the second-largest faller in the rankings during the period – an 18-place drop, beaten only by freefalling Cyprus.

However, the region’s problems have not been confined to North Africa. Iraq and Syria have succumbed to lower scores again, highlighting their own domestic problems, while high-flying Israel, down four places to 34th, has lost 2.3 points.