Economic Situation In Country Research Articles

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Lebanese patients with type II diabetes towards the use and abuse of dietary supplements: A cross-sectional study.

Dietary supplements (DS) use among Lebanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increased widely due to the country's economic and financial situation. This study was conducted (1) to estimate the prevalence of DS use among persons with T2DM amid the escalating economic crisis in Lebanon; (2) to explore the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of DS use; and (3) to determine any significant association between socio-economic and socio-demographic factors and the use of DS modality. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the worst episode of the economic crisis between October and April 2022 on 460 adult patients with T2DM of both sexes. Patients were interviewed using a pre-tested questionnaire. Almost 4 out of 10 patients with T2DM in our study were found to be using DS, where 27.6% take multivitamins frequently. One-third of the participants agreed that nutritional supplements are necessary to control diabetes symptoms and complications. Around 41.1% of the participants complained about hypoglycemia and used DS to control their blood sugar levels (56.4%), while the rest used it to improve their health (35.5%) and control their diet (2.2%). The predictors of DS usage were the patient's level of education [OR=3.9, CI=1.5-10, p=0.003), self-monitoring of blood sugars (OR=4.9, CI=1.68-14.6; p=0.004) and reading the nutrition label [OR=59.3, CI=6.3-55.8, p=0.000]. This study estimated the prevalence of DS use and abuse, among persons with diabetes type II and found three significant predictors of DS use among patients with T2DM. Public health experts should encourage healthy discussions and awareness with their patients to comprehend their views regarding DS use.

The Effect of Enlargement on the Indicators of Fiscal Decentralization of RA Communities

Fiscal decentralization at the local level is aimed at ensuring financial autonomy to strengthen the role of local self-government bodies. In fiscal decentralization, it is also important to clarify what powers are given to local governments so that they can determine their spending priorities and have some capacity to expand local revenue sources. The administrative-territorial reforms of RA, in particular, the enlargement of communities, is a new challenge from the point of view of the development and independence of the local self-government system of RA, but to have a well-established local self-government system, it is very important to increase both the absolute and relative indicators of the communities' incomes. The results of the analysis carried out in the communities of Armenia for 10 years show that the communities have a trend of steady growth of their incomes, which, however, is not always accompanied by an increase in the share of their incomes in the total incomes. The latter is because, despite the RA administrative-territorial reforms, the communities continue to be significantly dependent on the state budget. With the emphasis on the importance of assessing the impact of enlargement in communities after the RA administrative-territorial reforms, there is a need to introduce a methodology for calculating several indicators of fiscal decentralization in communities, which will take into account not only indicators at the local level but also other macroeconomic indicators characterizing the country's economic situation, such as GDP.

Microscopic and Molecular Diagnosis of Cryptosporidium spp. in Human in Babylon Province, Iraq

Background: Considering the importance of Cryptosporidium spp. to public health and the country's economic situation due to the threat of an outbreak and economic losses. Objectives: this study aimed to detect Cryptosporidium spp. in human in Babylon province using traditional and molecular techniques. Methods: this study was conducted in Babylon province from September, 2023 to March, 2024.a total of 100 human stool samples were examined microscopically for detection of Cryptosporidium spp. from both diarrheal and non-diarrheal patients attend hospitals and public health centers laboratories. Results: by using microscopic examination. The rate of infection with Cryptosporidium spp. was (25/100), 25%. According to sex, the highest infection rate in humans was in males (17/59),28.81% compared to females (8/41) ,19,51%. was recorded in the rate of infection between age groups, the highest rate (13/28), 46.42% observed in < 5years of human. Rural area revealed the highest rate of infection than urban area in human (16/44),36.63%. In molecular diagnosis, DNA extraction was performed for 50 stool samples human 28% (14/50) C hominis 10% (5/50) C parvum 18% (9/50) by nested PCR, in order to investigate the genotypes of Cryptosporidium spp. from human in Babylon, five Cryptosporidium spp. isolates. were genetically characterized by SSU-rDNA gene sequencing. The results showed C parvum (1/5) C hominis (4/5). Conclusion: these findings suggested that infection of humans by zoonotic genotypes were the most common genotypes detected in all human samples in Babylon province, to enhance the effectiveness of the One Health approach in preventing Cryptosporidium spp. infection, it is crucial to have a deeper understanding of the environmental, epidemiological, and etiological aspects linked to Cryptosporidium infection. This knowledge will aid in the development of more effective risk management strategies. The future One Health plan seeks to incorporate diverse and interdisciplinary expertise.

Процедурная справедливость как фактор отношения к политической системе: роль экономического положения страны

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Objective. </strong>The aim of the study is to analyze the relationship between perceived procedural justice in the political sphere, the perceived economic situation of the country, and attitudes toward the political system in Russia. <br><strong>Background</strong>. Previous research has shown that the perceived procedural justice of politicians and political institutions improve attitudes toward them, satisfaction with their actions, and agreement with their decisions. Furthermore, adherence to procedural justice norms can offset the negative impact of economic problems. However, these studies have several limitations related to the sample and the method, which were taken into account in our study. <br><strong>Participants. </strong>In the study, 8520 Russian citizens participated (<em>N</em><sub>1 </sub>= 3193, <em>N</em><sub>2 </sub>= 3237, <em>N</em><sub>3 </sub>= 2090). <br><strong>Study design. </strong>Respondents participated in an online survey conducted on the YandexToloka platform. The study involved three measurements: the first measurement took place in September 2022, and the second and third measurements were conducted in November 2022. <br><strong>Measurements. </strong>Respondents filled out questionnaires to measure perceived procedural justice in politics, perceived economic situation, and attitude toward the Russian political system (social system justification, trust in federal political institutions, and emotion toward the political system). <br><strong>Results. </strong>The study showed that both perceived procedural justice and the perceived economic situation of the country were positively related to the attitude toward the Russian political system. However, assessments of economic situation and procedural justice interacted with each other: the lower respondents rated the country's economic situation, the stronger the relationship between perceived procedural justice and attitude toward the political system. <br><strong>Conclusions. </strong>Russians' ability to influence political decisions, the observance of equal rights, and respectful treatment by government representatives support the political system within which these occur. This becomes especially important during times when the country faces economic difficulties.</p>

Predicting satisfaction with democracy in Brazil considering data form an opinion survey

Purpose – This article compared machine learning algorithms in the context of satisfaction with democracy in Brazil. The models were trained with data from the Latinobarómetro survey, a private non-profit institution. Theoretical foundation – The Support Vector Classifier (SVC), Random Forest (RF), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) classification techniques were described, followed by evaluation metrics, such as accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score and the area under a receiver operating characteristic (auc-roc). Methodology – The data set was cleaned and the questionnaire was reduced to variables related to the local democracy index (IDL). Then, attribute transformations were performed, hyperparameters were analyzed and subsets with different class balances were created to evaluate the performance of the classifiers in different scenarios. Also, the attributes that most contributed to satisfaction with democracy were analyzed. Results – The best classifier was RF for the class of those dissatisfied with democracy, however, the ANN and SVC techniques obtained better results in the class of satisfied individuals. Evaluating the most important attributes for satisfaction with democracy, it was identified that they are related to the country's economic situation and political and governmental issues. Research implications – The models created were mainly able to identify people dissatisfied with democracy. The most important variables in this context were economy performance, government, political positioning, and democracy. This indicates directions for future studies and enables the development of strategies to change the perception of dissatisfied individuals. Originality/Value – Exploring data on democracy from the Latinobarómetro using machine learning techniques in the context of Brazil. Keywords: Machine learning; Democracy; Classification; Satisfaction.

Economic Performance Paths of CEE Countries and the EU-27 in 2000–2022

Abstract Research background An analysis of the similarity of countries’ economic developments can provide an important premise for both the assessment of current international economic relations and the long-term prediction of their economic development potential. Purpose The paper presents research results on the paths of economic performance of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2000–2022. As a reference object the EU-27 aggregate has been considered. A supplementary analysis of the impact of the last crises on the economic situation of the CEE countries was provided. Research methodology The analysis is carried out based on the authors’ method of multivariate analysis, where two positioning criteria are applied: an object’s distance from the optimal point and an object’s heterogeneity. A comparative analysis of economic performance paths dependency is provided using a first-order correlation coefficient for time series. Results It has been found that there has been a significant improvement in the macroeconomic situation of the CEE countries over the last two decades. Changes of economic performance in these countries were very similar, while the heterogeneity of their macroeconomic indicators was diminishing, due to nominal, real and institutional convergence. The CEE countries reacted in a similar way both to the worldwide economic crisis in 2009 and to the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus in 2020. It has been confirmed that the first of these crises had a greater negative impact on the economic situation of these countries. Novelty The originality of the study carried out lies, on the one hand, in the use of the author’s research method and, on the other hand, in the presentation of the impact of economic crises on the economic situation of a selected group of countries in the long term. The added value of the study is an analysis of the correlations of paths describing the economic situation of individual countries.

The Effectiveness of Governance Through Fiscal Policy Management in South Africa

Fiscal Policy is an important instrument for managerial decision-making. Many countries in Africa have adopted this policy to ignite socio-economic development. In South Africa (SA), several fiscal policy strategies have been adopted and implemented since the country's transition to democracy in 1994 with the aim of stimulating economic growth. Fiscal Policy is the utmost significant tool of economic management that is used by government to achieve the growth of economic activities. It is a vital measure of economic policy that achieves the foremost objective of managing economic growth, accomplishing complete employment, preserving the stability of price, settlement of economic balance and attaining societal integrity. The objective of this paper revealed a positive relationship between fiscal policy and managerial decision making in South Africa. In addition, the findings suggests that government spending has proven unsustainable, and continued spending on some of these policies may exacerbate the country's economic situation, given the fact that its expenditure is largely dependent on income tax. Based on the findings, this paper recommends that, for the SA economy to perform better, resources should be diverted from government consumption (thereby reducing funding for some of the current fiscal policies) to investment spending (e.g., job creation, poverty alleviation and promotion of long-term economic growth through infrastructure development).

Benefit Analysis and Experience Enlightenment of Qatar World Cup

The application for hosting global large-scale sports events such as the World Cup requires a comprehensive evaluation of the country's economic situation. Otherwise, it may seem profitable to obtain high profits, but in reality, the multiplier effect is limited and the return rate is not high. Taking the 2022 Qatar World Cup as an example, we analyze the multiple benefits it generates and provide reference experiences for China to host large scale sports events.

БАНКРУТСТВО ТА ЗВІЛЬНЕННЯ ПРАЦІВНИКІВ: НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ТА ЗАРУБІЖНИЙ ДОСВІД

The bankruptcy procedure in Ukraine has undergone significant changes due to the challenges posed by the imposition of martial law and the need to bring legislation in line with EU standards. One of the key indicators of the country's economic situation i

Cross-country comparison: does social democratic party power increase an employee's perceived employability?

Individuals strive to be highly employable, yet, we lack a uniform definition of 'employability'. Within the labour market, employability can be seen as a product of individual human capital resources. However, this study argues that employability is also affected by the structure of the labour market and therefore also considers a country's economic situation and political power to quantify employees' perceived employability. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme, the Manifesto Project Dataset, and the International Labour Organization, this study uses a multilevel regression model with data from 30 countries. This paper disentangles the impact of individual careers and country policies (micro-macro linkage) on the perceived employability of their employees. At the individual level, initial education is the main predictor of employees' current perceived employability, but vocational training is not. At the country level, the share of social democratic party power in each country, as a driver of active labour market policies, has a net effect on employee's perceived employability, irrespective of their individual human capital investments. The generalisability of the findings is relevant to current debates about whether workers should become managers of their own careers or whether policymakers should take responsibility.

THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTMENT FOR THE GREEN ECONOMY IN COUNTRIES AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT

Investment in renewable energy sources is gradually becoming the most popular investment in the world. Sustainable investment is an encouraged solution because it does no harm to nature. The aim of the study is to find out whether richer or less rich countries invest more in renewable energy sources. The richer a country is and attracts more foreign investment, the faster its economy grows. If a country is less rich, attracts less foreign investment, its economy grows slower. We found that investment in the green economy is following this trend as well. Countries invest in the green economy because they want to be either completely energy independent or become less dependent on other countries. It is important for the country's economy not only to invest in other countries, but also to attract foreign investment in order to strengthen the domestic economy. The high level of the country's economy is indicated by direct investment in foreign states. Economic development depends on the kind of investment. Economic growth can be predicted based on investment. Investment increases the productive potential of the economy. Net investment shows the country's economic situation. The economy is growing if the amount of total investment exceeds depreciation. Investment is very beneficial and important for the development and growth of the country's economy. All investments, including green investment, improve and increase the development and growth of the country's economy. Through the generated gross domestic product, investment affects the country's economy. Economic growth depends on foreign and domestic investment. The main problem of investing in renewable resources is the cost of technology: the higher the price, the longer the payback period is. Therefore, economically stronger countries can invest more in renewable energy sources. Economically stronger countries with favourable climate conditions invest more in renewable energy sources, while economically weaker countries with poorer climate conditions invest less in them. Economic growth depends on foreign and domestic investment The richer a country is and attracts more foreign investment, the faster its economy grows. If a country is less rich, attracts less foreign investment, its economy grows slower.

Algeria’s "Hirak" Movement (2019): Achievments and Faillures

The Hirak protest movement in Algeria began in February 2019, sparked by wide-spread anger and frustration over the government's handling of the country's economic and political situation. The protests were initially triggered by President Abd al-Aziz Boutef-lika's announcement that he would seek a fifth term in office despite his advanced age and declining health. The Algerian people had long been dissatisfied with the ruling elite and the govern-ment's perceived corruption, economic mismanagement, and lack of political freedom. The Hirak movement was a response to these grievances, and it quickly grew into a massive protest movement that brought together people from all walks of life, including students, professionals, workers, and retirees. The protesters called for an end to the Bouteflika regime and demanded an overhaul of the country's political system. The movement was peaceful and largely decentralized, with no clear leaders or formal organization. One of the important points of the paper is the position of the Algerian authorities, particularly the army, the structure that has real power in the country. Along with the progress and development of the opposition movement, the tactics of the authorities changed too. The Algerian political elite chose a tactic appropriate to the moment to maintain their position, influence and wishing to prevent the situation from escalating at the same time.

Analysis of Green GDP Based on Multiple Linear Regression Model

GDP is an important indicator to measure a country's economic situation. However, with the development of our society, GDP can no longer represent the real situation of a country’ economy, since it does not take into account the sustainability of a country’s economic development. Thus, green GDP, also known as GGDP came into being. GGDP not only measures a country's economic achievements in the past, but also measures its ability of sustainable development in the future. Based on the linear regression model of GGDP, this paper analyzes the factors that may affect a country's GGDP, and further discusses the influences of GGDP on a country's sustainable development.

Microscopic and Molecular Diagnosis of Giardia Duodenalis in Human in Babylon Province, Iraq

Considering the importance of G. duodenalis to public health and the country's economic situation due to the threat of an outbreak and economic losses . Thus, this study aimed to detect G. duodenalis in human in Babylon province using traditional and molecular techniques. This study was conducted in Babelon province from 1st of Oct 2022 to 30th of March 2023. A total of 100 human stool samples were examined microscopically for detecion of G. duodenalis from both diarrheal and non diarrheal patients attend hospitals and public health centers laboratories . By using microscopic examination. The rate of infection with G.duodenalis was 34/100 (34%). According to sex, the highest infection rate in humans was in males 19/51(37.25%) compared to females 15/49 (30,61%). Significant differences (P≤0.05) was recorded in the rate of infection between age groups, the highest rate 17/29 (58.62% ) observed in (5-14 years) of human. Rural area revealed the highest rate of infection than urban area in human 24/55 (43.63%) with significant differences (P≤0.05). The highest infection rate in humans 10/17 (58.82%) was in November with no statistically significant differences (P≤0.05). In molecular diagnosis, DNA extraction was performed for 40 stool samples human, in order to investigate the genotypes of G. duodenalis from human in Babylon, seven Giardia isolates. were genetically characterized by SSU-rDNA gene sequencing. The results showed the percent of assemblage A was 5/7 (71.4%), while assemblage B was 2/7 (28.6%). These findings suggested that infection of humans by zoonotic genotypes A and B were the most common genotypes detected in all human samples in Babylon province, demonstrating the importance of genotyping identification in understanding the transmission routes and epidemiology of giardiasis.

Pengaruh Arus Kas Operasi, Total Asset Turnover Dan Long Term Debt To Equity Ratio Terhadap Financial Distress Pada Perusahaan Subsektor Tekstil Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI) Tahun 2018-2020

The Covid-19 virus outbreak has spread to almost all countries and started to enter Indonesia in 2020, having a negative impact on the country's economic situation. This situation has a broad impact on the process of production, distribution and other business activities, which can disrupt the country's economic performance. This study aims to examine the effect of operating cash flow, total asset turnover and long term debt to equity ratio on financial distress in textile sub-sector companies for the 2018-2020 period. The research method used is descriptive analysis. With the results of the research partially Operating Cash Flow does not significantly affect Financial Distress, Total Asset Turnover significantly affects Financial Distress, Long Term Debt to Equity significantly affects Financial Distress. Simultaneously the variables Operating Cash Flow, Total Asset Turnover, and Long Term Debt to Equity together have an effect on Financial Distress.

Economic System of Islām as a Panacea to Economic Recession in Nigeria ‎

The National Bureau of statistics in July 2016 officially announced that Nigeria has entered into a recession, its first in 29 years. According to the data provided by the World Bank, the most recent time that the nation saw such a significant instance of economic downturn was while Ibrahim Babangida was in power. During that time period, the economy of Nigeria had a decline of 0.51% in the first quarter of 1987 and 0.82% in the second quarter of the same year. The disaggregation of the results for 2016 into its individual quarters revealed the sharpest decline, which was 2.4 percent, and a turning point after that. This is going by the manifestation of economic hardships experienced by the populace, even up to this moment. In point of fact, Nigeria's economy went from a level of economic buoyancy to a level of economic recession in the second quarter of 2016, and it has maintained negative growths in all quarters of that year up to 2017. This downward trend is expected to continue throughout 2017. In a bid to cushion the effect of this situation, the government in the short and medium terms took some measures (policies and reforms) to reverse the recession and put it on the path of growth reliance. In spite of these encouraging developments and despite the fact that it has been two years since the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) officially declared that Nigeria had emerged from recession in its quarterly report on the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the country's economic situation is still difficult, particularly with regard to the continued high cost of food. For a long-term solution, this paper, therefore, examines some measures of Islamic economic system, which is recession proof, due to the fact that it is basically premised on the fundamental sources of Islam, Sharī῾ah. The paper concludes that if these measures are taken into consideration by the government, it will not only lift the economy out of its current phase but will also guarantee a secure economy. The paper adopts analytical research methods, using majorly secondary data collection.

Validation of Decision Criteria and Determining Factors Importance in Advocating for Sustainability of Entrepreneurial Startups towards Social Inclusion and Capacity Building

The main goal of the study is to assess the decision criteria and the determining factors for the sustainability of entrepreneurial startups in order to contribute towards social inclusion and capacity building. Both concepts are in the development phase and are the outcome of entrepreneurial ecosystem and individual behavior and traits. The current study observed the research problem as entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial startups are the continuous phenomena required for every economy. The lack of an efficient ecosystem and incompetent trait of an entrepreneur brings the entrepreneurial startup to failure. Therefore, an assessment of decision criteria and determining factors categorizing them by their importance may provide the requirements to lead to a successful entrepreneurial startup, contributing to social inclusion and capacity building. The study solved the research problem by statistical assessment of decision criteria and determining factors and categorizing them by their importance may provide the requirements to lead to a successful entrepreneurial startup. The research is built on research questions, objectives, a conceptual model, and a hypothesis, which are tested based on the data collected. The collection of data was done through a survey questionnaire on a sample of established entrepreneurs. The study concludes that the five components of decision criteria are region, competition, funding opportunities, tax system, and country economic situation, whereas eight determining factors, consciousness and reliability, pursuit of results, flexibility, stress resistance, skills of identification and exploitation of potential market opportunities, leadership, creativity and innovation, and delegation of decision-making, are required for a successful entrepreneurial startup to be able to work towards social inclusion and capacity building.

Convergence of Energy Intensity of the Export of Goods by Rail Transport: Linkages with the Spatial Integration and Economic Condition of Countries

This article concerns the identification of connections between the energy intensity of rail transport and spatial integration (convergence processes in the EU and spatial proximity) and the economic situation of countries that are in international export–import trade relations. Three research questions are formulated in the article: (1) Does the improvement of the economic situation of the importing country reduce the energy intensity of the Polish export of goods by rail transport to the partner country? (2) Does EU integration contribute to reducing the energy intensity of the export of goods by rail transport? (3) Is there a positive spatial effect (convergence) of reducing the energy intensity of the export of goods by rail transport? This study concerned 14 geographical destinations (export destinations from Poland) during the years 2010–2020. A comprehensive study of convergence was used by building a spatial (club) and type β convergence model and using an unconventional method (panel stationarity analysis). It has been verified that there is a convergence in the energy intensity of goods exportation by rail transport in EU countries. The rate of spatial (club) convergence is 8.66% per year, while the period after which this convergence will be halfway between the initial state and the long-term equilibrium point is 8 years.

Brand Origin Effects During Economic Declines: Evidence from an Emerging Market

Drawing on the signaling theory perspective, this study examines the effect of perceived country of origin on brand performance during economic contractions. The authors specify an econometric model linking brand market share to recession periods and analyze the interaction with brand origin perception. They test the model on four years of longitudinal data on consumer packaged goods brands combined with a self-administrated consumer questionnaire to infer consumers’ perceptions about brands’ origins. The authors find that economic contractions differentially affect brands with different country-of-origin perceptions. The results indicate that the market share of brands that customers most identify as domestic suffers more damage during contractions than brands they perceive as foreign. The main contribution of this article is in generating a better understanding of brands’ resistance to economic contractions based on their perceived country of origin. Moreover, the authors provide strategic recommendations to brands based on their origin perception and the country's economic situation.

The Relations of Middle Eastern Countries with Myanmar: The Challenge of Increasing Influence through Strategic and/or Economic Ties Amid the Persecution of the Muslim Rohingyas

The Relations of Middle Eastern Countries with Myanmar:The Challenge of Increasing Influence through Strategic and/or Economic Ties Amid the Persecution of the Muslim Rohingyas Michael B. Bishku (bio) Introduction Myanmar, known as Burma until June 18, 1989, received its independence from Britain on January 4, 1948, and, unlike India, never joined the Commonwealth. It has been either under direct military rule or that institution's strong influence since 1962. From that time until at least the late 1970s, it was "almost completely sealed off from the rest of the world." General Ne Win's regime "was reluctant to allow any foreigners into the country, and had a passion for keeping foreign influences at a minimum."1 As a result, the country's economic situation deteriorated greatly and Burma began seeking investment from abroad, something that would have adequate success by the early 2000s. Burma's powerful neighbors were the [End Page 22] first approached and were quite receptive.2 As conditions did not improve, by 1988 there was civilian unrest which the military quashed with the use of torture, arrests, and the killings of thousands. While an election was held in 1990 resulting in a landslide win for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), the military refused to hand over power. Nevertheless, Myanmar, which had been reluctant to join the Association of Asian Nations (ASEAN), an organization of states in Southeast Asia, during the Cold War, was admitted to the group in 1997. Today, even after the 2021 coup by Myanmar's army, most of ASEAN's other members, along with China and India, are the biggest foreign investors in Myanmar, with China and Singapore at the very top.3 Over the years, the United States, Britain, the European Union, Australia and Canada have imposed economic sanctions and arms embargos against Myanmar due to the human rights violations committed by the military, but eased them when political conditions improved.4 Those sanctions, corruption, and bureaucratic restrictions have discouraged some countries from investing in Myanmar. In 2012, Suu Kyi – who had been under house arrest for more than two-thirds of the time between 1989 and 2010 – and members of the NLD were elected to a limited number of seats in parliament, with that institution (and the country) still firmly under the control of the military. Also, in 2012, sectarian violence broke out in Rakhine (formerly Arakan) state – bordering Bangladesh – between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, the latter having been persecuted since General Ne Win's regime and effectively becoming stateless in 1982 when the Burmese government did not include them as one of 135 official ethnic groups. Since 2016, there has been an insurgency led by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, in which civilians have borne the [End Page 23] brunt of Myanmar's military actions. Meanwhile, in parliamentary elections in 2015 and 2020, Suu Kyi's NLD won landslide votes, but she was barred from becoming president, as her family members were British citizens; instead, she had to settle for the newly created post of state counsellor, a Myanmar version of prime minister. Although, in December 2019, Suu Kyi denied that the military's actions against the Rohingyas was genocide at the International Court of Justice,5 just over a year later, in February 2021, she was removed from office in a military coup and subsequently convicted of corruption, with other charges still pending. Myanmar is once again facing Western economic sanctions. While Middle Eastern states have periodically expressed concern for the welfare of the Rohingyas and criticism of Myanmar's policy in Rakhine state, the Arab Gulf states nevertheless have shown the greatest interest in increasing economic ties with Myanmar. Following the coup against Suu Kyi's government in 2021, Iran has reportedly provided Myanmar with military assistance. While there has been some academic study of Israel's relations with Burma/Myanmar, especially during the early years when that country was under civilian rule,6 no significant attention has been given to the ties of countries in the Muslim Middle East with Burma/Myanmar, a relationship that has been slower to develop, with the exception of Egypt, whose interests in Asia have diminished...