I recently had the opportunity to meet Dato Rais Hussin and he shared his 2019 book 4IR (AI, Blockchain, FinTech, IoT) Reinventing a Nation. The book is co-edited with Dinis Guarda and has a range of contributions from experts on topics from education to technical domains. After the launch of GPT in Nov 2022, AI has been the center of attention. However, these authors were putting this on the agenda - particularly for Malaysia - in 2019. Importantly this is well beyond the technical or theoretical, but how the country can proactively create enabling environments for emerging technologies. Tech books quickly are out of date as the industry changes rapidly, even the duration of book publication poses a challenge. In this case, the governance side remains relevant while the tech has evolved and been widely integrated (in some areas the authors foresaw). A few notes:

"Despite the doom mongering, there will always be a human element in education. Technology is simply the facilitator of change not the controller of the classroom. That will always be the role of the teacher. The notion of favorite teacher will be as important for future generations as it has been in the past. It is highly unlikely that people will point to their favorite technology programme as an inspiration for entering a particular career path!" (p. 150)

"5 key factors for that social structure of innovation occur: the research universities; established entrepreneur businesses that operate as feeders; local venue capitalists; abundant talent; support institutions that comprise the key locational assets required to spawn and sustain the high tech industry. 30 years later, these are still the key ingredients of the modern tech city." (p. 225)

"... the social and ethical dimension of the 4IR needs to be taken into consideration when designing a 4IR tech hub's workforce, and certain types of start-upsworking with social innovation in fields such as well-being, education, and reskilling, need to be part of it., To establish partners with Universities is key and attracting graduates with degrees in creative areas and social science areas is also very important. These can provide, when working in partnership with the technology workforce, the much needed interdisciplinary research on lifelong education, social innovation and policy making that helps to tailor the development of technology for the best possible results that value growth and development also in terms of well-being." (p. 247)

Policy books on specific issues with specific cases tend to have a shorter shelf life of relevance. Keeley and Scoones wrote "Understanding Environmental Policy Processes: Cases from Africa" in 2003, and it largely falls in this category. The book has three cases as chapters (Ethiopia, Mali, Zimbabwe) and some general chapters on knowledge, power and politics; environmental policy processes; international policy processes; and a concluding chapter on engagement spaces. The Ethiopia case study brought out the naive and idealistic views, such as those pitched by Sasakawa Global 2000, suggesting that the addition of fertilizer would triple yields and "off the shelf" packages would increase maize yields tenfold. SG2000 was integrated in, and was the primary driver of, the expanded agricultural extension program of the then new Zenawi government. The influence was exerted by foreign consultants, often with World Bank and CG ties, to put SG2000 in this unique position of influencing power. The book offers some interesting historical notes of Zenawi visiting farms with Jimmy Carter and Norman Borlaug (in 1994). The authors suggest - in 2003 - a lot of money wasted and little progress. This book is interesting in that is looks at the role of networks in influencing or setting policy. One lengthy note in the Conclusion of the Ethiopia case:

"... the policy process - linked to agriculture, natural resources and environment in Ethiopia - is undoubtedly complex. Policy conflicts are not resolved, it seems, as a result of simple technical and rational choices between different alternatives. Policy is the stuff of politics and people, and of knowledge and power. The rise or fall of different policy emphases depends upon the successful (or otherwise) enrolment of actors - scientists, donors, politicians, NGO staff, farmers and others - and the creation of networks that are able to make use of a policy space, emerging as a result of particular contexts, circumstances and timings. Policies can be seen to be embedded in local settings - in the political histories of different regions, in the cultures of regional bureaucracies and administrations, and dependent upon the histories of educational advantage and disadvantage, as well as rooted in ideologies and practices of governance and participation. Policies, it seems, often have a certain inertia: particular ideas and practices stick, despite concerted challenges to basic concepts and ways of working. If actor networks are tightly formed and impenetrable, and contexts and circumstances are not conducive to change, no amount of rational argument will budge a policy from its pedestal. However, as we have noted, things do change once distinct and well-guarded policy positions begin to fall apart, and other arguments become incorporated, softening the stance and, through this process, enlarging the associated actor network. Key events may allow this to happen, creating new policy spaces and new opportunities for challenge and open debate. The result is often the partial unravelling of old actor networks and the creation of new ones around alternative policy discourses, which, previously, featured only on the fringes of mainstream policy discussion." (p. 97) 

What particular challenges do "small states" have and what options might they employ to overcome them? Building out of a collaborative teaching class, Miller and Al-Marri (2022) wrote "Overcoming Smallness". The book offers a useful introduction to the literature on small states, with Chapter 1 on what small states are (and debates about that), Chapters 2 and 3 cover economics and natural resources in small states, Chapters 4 and 5 explore security and alliances, and Chapters 6 and 7 delve into a country case study of Qatar. The case study engages the literature of the opening chapters, bridging the theory to an applied case. Might have been useful to use the case to have an additional chapter on how the case can inform the theory in new ways or offer new directions in small state research. A few notes:

"Knowledge is also an important resource that has provided the wherewithal for some small states such as Finland, Estonia, Taiwan and Ireland to innovate and gain influence in industries such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, telecommunications and cyber security. This has required investment in high quality education, human capital development and the building of quality institutional frameworks. This underscores another point, that the intangible resources developed by small states can be used in the innovation of new tangible resources." (p. 69-70)

"From the perspective of small state security studies, the blockade of Qatar is an excellent example of a crisis in which a larger opponent with expansionist or revisinis goals uses hybrid warfare to target a smaller state to achieve its strategic objectives. From the outset, the intention of blockading countries was to destabilize Qatar and pressure decision makers in Doha to Accede there demands. The overt and concord methods adopted by the Saudi-UAE led anti-Qatar coalition in pursuit of their goals included disinformation, cyber-attacks, economic pressure and diplomatic isolation at a level that, in the words of NATO definition of hybrid warfare, remained "below the threshold of formally declared warfare." (p. 125)

"With the start of the crisis, Qatar was transformed overnight from a pro-active international actor into a besieged small state in a hostile regional environment with little choice but to defend its core interest from the much smaller coalition raged against it. Yet despite the notable power imbalance from the duration of the blockade Qatar managed to contain successfully its negative impact, and to maintain its political autonomy and economic sovereignty. As previous chapters have noted, states that can achieve economic and political self-reliance will be more difficult external opponents to divide and rule than ones that are economically dependent on other actors." (p.134) 

Qatar has unique traits that make some areas of inquiry particularly relevant. That the citizen population is a minority and that there are so many international K-12 schools as well as international university branch campuses, the country is very well suited to explore education, identity and language questions. Wisam Abdul-Jabbar edited a 2025 book delving into this topic, "Teaching Interculturally in Qatar", covering K12 as well as higher education. The book has 14 chapters, with seven parts of 2 chapters each. Part 1 covers cultural and educational ethics, Part 2 culture and religion in higher education, Part 3 on cultural identity, Part 4 on intercultural communication, Part 5 on intercultural competencies, Part 6 on media, and Part 7 on translation and language teaching. It is often the case that academics draw on lessons and best practices on multicultural education from countries such as Australia and Canada. This book shows that Qatar has much to offer, and in many regards a more inclusive form of intercultural engagement (which allows comparing and contrasting with the assimilationist melting pot approaches or togetherness in different salad bowl ideas).

As a counter narrative to the stereotypes of the region and country, Chapter 3 by Patrick Laude notes: "Islam is the official religion of the state in Qatar, and the presence of a Catholic University on its land may have suggested to some local constituencies an alarming potential for religious proselytization. The presence of Catholic priests on the faculty, as well as that of a multi‑confessional chapel in the Georgetown building in Doha, could have raised suspicion of religious apostolate. None of these features seems to have been a factor of controversy or disruption. Catholic priests on the faculty were generally well‑received by students. There was never any suspicion that they would be engaged in religious activities promoting their faith. The faculty priests were also involved in interfaith activities; some had a deep knowledge of Islam and the Islamic world. In parallel, Qatar had also positioned itself as a country fostering interfaith dialogue. The Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue was founded in 2010 under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since then, it has been at the forefront of interfaith activities in the country and abroad. It hosts a biennial interfaith conference, among many other community activities, and sponsors a journal of interreligious studies." (p. 33)