US facing new era of instability as Middle East sinks further into turmoil

Read original article by Anna Pujol-Mazzini on the Reuters or read some of they key points below;

1. “An annual global peace index has concluded that US political turmoil had pushed North America into deep instability in 2016 while the Middle East sank deeper into turmoil.”
2. “Although this year’s up-tick is reassuring, the world is still mired with conflict in the Middle East, political turmoil in the US, refugee flows and terrorism in Europe,” said Steve Killelea, founder of the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which produces the index.”
3. “Three out of the five least peaceful countries – Syria, Iraq and Yemen – are in the Middle East, and Syria retained the top spot of least peaceful country for the fifth year in a row.”
4. “It measures 23 indicators including incidents of violent crime, levels of militarisation, weapons imports, as well as refugee tallies and the number killed in internal conflict. Syria retained its overall top spot in the index.”
5. “About half a million people are estimated to have been killed in Syria’s six-year civil war, which has dragged in regional and world powers and caused the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.”
6. “Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa, however, became more peaceful in 2016, including Morocco and Iran, where political stability has increased, the index said.”
7. “Meanwhile, political stability in the United States dropped as the presidential campaign that elevated Donald Trump to the White House highlighted deep divisions within society.”Add Row
8. “Iceland is the world’s most peaceful country listed in the index, followed by New Zealand, Portugal, Austria and Denmark.”