Regional instability continues to be the main problem facing for some countries in the Middle East and Africa.

The threat of terrorist attacks remains high in Baghdad, which is the most unstable city in the world, with frequent attacks and rampant crime rates. Security also remains a major issue, especially near Israeli and Palestinian borders.

The recent wave of protests of varying proportions across North Africa and the Middle East has endangered personal safety and lowered living standards in the region, at least for the present. Cities in a few countries, where unrest turned to violence, such as in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Yemen, have seen their quality of living levels drop considerably. The longer that political uncertainly lingers in countries where regime change has occurred (or where the current government remains unstable), the more lasting damage may be inflicted on the affected cities’ quality of living. Rebuilding both political systems and damaged infrastructure will be essential to improving the standard of living for many cities in the region.

Other countries in the region, particularly in the Middle East, experienced a tightening of government control in the face of what has come to be known as the “Arab Spring,” such as occurred in Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Some of this region’s cities, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and Muscat, Oman, rank quite high on the personal safety list, mainly due to their internal stability and low crime levels.

Civil strife and poverty continue to plague African nations, and cities on the continent have some of the lowest standards of living in the world. A military conflict following the December 2010 presidential election led to months of violence in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. In addition to continuing civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the army is fighting with rebels, poor medical and sanitary conditions led to an outbreak of cholera that began in the spring of 2011. With many African countries experiencing violent fighting, urban rebuilding and investment in infrastructure is difficult to foresee in the near future.

Listen to Mercer’s Zaid Kamhawi discuss the 2011 Quality of Living survey results for Asia (English & Arabic).