3) Israel

Active personnel: 176,500

2017 budget: $18.5bn

With numerous hostile neighbours to contend with, Israel has always felt the need to ensure its armed forces are clearly superior to anything they might have to face in battle. The Israel Defence Forces are the best equipped, best trained and most capable of any in the region according to the IISS, not least because of continued massive support from the US. However, the country’s GFP index score of 0.3476 still places it behind two others in the region.

2) Egypt

Active personnel: 438,500

2017 budget: $2.7bn

With a former general now in charge of the country – Abdel el Sisi – it is unsurprising that Egypt’s army is in a powerful position in the domestic political arena. The defence forces are currently in the midst of an equipment recapitalisation programme, with new fighter aircraft, attack helicopters and surface-to-air missiles all being bought in. However, the country has struggled to deal with the challenge posed by insurgent, terrorist groups in the northern Sinai Peninsula for the past few years. With a GFP score of 0.2676, Egypt is seen as having the second strongest armed forces in the region and the tenth strongest in the world overall, ahead of the likes of Italy and Pakistan.

1) Turkey

Active personnel: 355,800

2017 budget: $8bn

Viewed by the GFP as the most powerful in the MENA region with a score of 0.2491, Turkey’s armed forces have faced a turbulent few years, with many officers purged from the services following a failed coup in July 2016. Since then the country has become ever more heavily involved in the war in neighbouring Syria, culminating in the Afrin campaign launched in January 2018. The country also has important overseas military ties with Qatar and Somalia, basing troops in both countries. Not only is it seen as the strongest military force in the MENA region, it is ranked in eighth place globally, just ahead of Germany and one place below Japan.

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