Qatar ranked No.1 in the Middle East and North Africa on the 2016 Global Peace Index, the world's leading measure of national peacefulness.
In the MENA region, Qatar was followed by Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia and Oman.
Out of 163 countries, Qatar came in at No. 34 while other GCC countries lagged far behind. Kuwait ranked 51 followed by the United Arab Emirates at 61, Oman at 74, Saudi Arabia at 129 and Bahrain at 132.
As shown in the report [ PDF ], the countries with the lowest peace ranking in the region include Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Thus, the region as a whole saw its peacefulness levels go down, an expected phenomena considering the wars taking place in various countries including Syria and Yemen.
The world as a whole has become 2.44 percent less peaceful since 2008. Considering much of the MENA region is in conflict, the overall peace score of the world would have improved if the region was left out.
"The majority of the global deterioration is due to the developments in the Middle East and [North] Africa (MENA), already the least peaceful region in the world. So intense is the current concentration of violence and conflict in MENA that, when considered separately, the rest of the world’s average peace levels improved. Three of the five biggest country declines in peace occurred in the region: Yemen, Libya and Bahrain," GPI reported .