8) Morocco

Active personnel: 195,000

2017 budget: $3.5bn

Morocco has the fifth largest armed forces in the region, with 175,000 army personnel and a further 13,000 in the air force and 7,800 in the navy. However, it also has one of the lowest budgets, at just $3.5bn in 2017. Despite that, it gains a GFP score of 0.8702. The country’s forces have gained useful experience as a result of political instability in its neighbourhood, in particular the disputed territory of Western Sahara to the south, as well as more limited experience further afield, including as part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen. Greater investment in its military forces is expected in the coming years, helped by support from Saudi Arabia.

7) Syria

Active personnel: 142,500

2017 budget: unknown

More than six years of fighting has left Syria’s military machine badly damaged but also battle-hardened. The IISS says the army currently has some 105,000 serving members but is short of personnel, leading to increased efforts at conscription, which many do their best to avoid. Allied militias fighting alongside conventional forces have played an important role in keeping the regime of Bashir al Assad from being toppled. The GFP index gives Syria’s armed forces a score of 0.7603.

6) Algeria

Active personnel: 130,000

2017 budget: $10bn

With the best equipped forces in North Africa – much of it sourced from Russia and, to a lesser extent, China – Algeria’s military has a score of 0.4366 in the GFP index. The country has had to battle domestic Islamist extremists for many years and faces troublesome border areas with neighbours including Libya and Mali, not to mention playing a role in supporting the Western Saharan independence movement the Polisario Front.

5) Saudi Arabia

Active personnel: 227,000

2017 budget: $76.7bn

The regional giant, at least in terms of its military budget which easily outpaces any other rival, Saudi Arabia’s GFP score of 0.4302 puts it in fifth place overall in the region. The huge amount of money being spent by Riyadh each year means the country has the best equipped armed forces in the region with the exception of Israel. Its involvement in the Yemen civil war over the past three years has given its forces valuable frontline experience, but its failure to defeat its Houthi opponents there has also raised questions about how effective a fighting force the Saudi military really is.

4) Iran

Active personnel: 523,000

2017 budget: $16bn

Iran has more men under arms than any other country in the region, with 350,000 in the army, 18,000 in the navy, 30,000 serving in the air force and a further 125,000 in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC). Years of international sanctions have meant it has been unable to source many weapons systems from abroad, forcing it to improvise and develop a substantial home-grown defence industry. Its armed forces are also seen as particular strong in asymmetric warfare. Iranian forces, particularly the elite Al Quds unit of the IRGC, have played a key role in the fighting in both Syria and Iraq and Tehran has also provided support to Houthi rebels in Yemen. Iran’s GFP score of 0.3933 puts it ahead of any of its immediate neighbours.

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