What are the Freest Countries in the Middle-East ?

Every year, Freedom House publishes the Freedom index, which ranks the access to political rights and civil liberties of people around the world. Last year, Freedom House complimented the Index with an Internet Freedom Index.

The citizens that enjoy the most freedom live in Western nations. Finland, Canada, and New Zealand all score close to maximum points. At the opposite end of the ranking, we find mostly Middle Eastern and African countries. Freedom tends to come after decades of political stability and social development. Many countries near the bottom are vestiges of European colonialism with artificially created borders. Most of them gained independence less than a century ago. This must be taken into consideration when comparing them to Western countries, which gained a form of independence 2 or 3 centuries ago.

The Middle East has also been plagued by constant foreign wars and interference in the last decade, creating a constant state of disarray. Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria have displaced tens of millions of people and destabilized the entire region. Today it’s hard to imagine the situation getting worse in the Middle East, but it’s also perhaps too optimistic to imagine it getting better.

Throughout history, instability in a country has led to restrictions on freedom. Citizens will happily exchange security and food for freedom. It’s no coincidence that the wealthy elites in the Middle East have either a second passport or permanent residency in another country. They use Citizenship by Investment programs or Residence by Investment programs to become a citizen of a western country. These offer much-needed security when you live in a region where war is expected to break out at least every decade. Acquiring a second passport is similar to hedging an investment.

The most popular programs over the years have been the Canadian Immigrant Investor program, the US EB5 Investor visa, and the UK Tier 1 Investor. But new ones like the Portugal Golden Residency, Greece Golden Visa, and the Australian Investor Stream have gained in popularity in the last few years.

Freedom is something most people in the West take for granted, but people from oppressed countries know how important it is to have and cherish it. The mental stress of imposed restrictions affects every aspect of your life: health, happiness, relationships. These are things people in the Middle East have dreamed of for decades, if not centuries.