In 2023, Tusiani and Johnson wrote "From Black Gold to Frozen Gas: How Qatar Became an Energy Superpower", published by Columbia University Press, in the Center on Global Energy Policy Series. The book provides a unique and detailed look into the deal, actors, contracts of the development of the energy sector in Qatar, often interwoven with geopolitics. The first 13 chapters covers historical content, which has been presented elsewhere, while the final chapters are the main contribution of the work. The first author was personally involved from 1977 onward, which is why these chapters are particularly insightful. The role of Japan is often noted in passing, whereas this book details how important Japan was for the development of LNG in the 1990s (as an example). As a reference book, it is rather frustrating as many points are not referenced making it impossible to know the source or follow-up on the data or history being presented (for a university press, this is somewhat unexpected). A few notes:

"In a major blow to Qatargas, founding partner BP announced in early 1992 that it was withdrawing from the joint venture company formed with QGPC and Total in 1984 after so many years of effort. Citing inadequate economics returns from the LNG project, where the estimated price tag was trending upward, the British major said Qatargas just did not stack up against other projects in BP's worldwide portfolio that offered better returns." (p. 268)

"When the Qataris had trouble paying for port development work at Ras Laffan, including the berths for the LNG vessels and other related infrastructure crucial to Qatargas, the Export-Import Bank of Japan stepped in with an unsecured $200 million loan to the government." (p. 298)

"The following year Hamad acquired the British Broadcasting Corporation's Arabic-language news channel lock, stock, and barrel. This came after BBC Arabic Television's Saudi backers, who had established the service with the BBC in 1994, pulled the plug following a Panorama documentary on Islamic law in Saudi Arabia that showed the beheading of a convicted criminal. The core news team— about 150 Arab reporters, editors, presenters, producers, and technicians—moved to Doha and the channel was relaunched as Al Jazeera with a loan of QR 500 million ($137 million) from the amir underwriting its first five years." (p. 320)

"If Qatar is assiduously reducing the role of foreign companies in its domestic oil and gas sector, the same cannot be said for its expanding footprint abroad. QP has been on a buying spree, acquiring exploration and production assets with oil company partners in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Congo, Cyprus, Egypt, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Oman, and South Africa." (p. 379) 

Some books are available in book shops globally and others only in local or regional markets. The Doha International Book Fair is a great place where regional publishers come together, and where the local and regional books are available. One example was "Nationalisation and Labour Market Policies in Saudi Arabia" (2023) by Abdullah Al Fozan, published by Obekan (Saudi publisher). Under 200 pages, the book is a brief summary of the nationalization efforts undertaken over the last decade. A few notes on the challenges and unique approaches:

"The failure of the Saudistation programme to reduce unemployment among Saudi nationals led the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) to introduce the Nitaqat programme as a re-implementation policy in 2011. Nitaqat programme imposes penalties on non-compliant companies and provides incentives for those who comply to advance the Saudistation goals." (p. 21)

"One of the negative consequences of Nitaqat is "fake Saudistation" in addition to other demerits brought about by the way Nitaqat was implemented or the way it was designed along with its policy. In the same vein. The number of Nitaqat female employees exploded from 77,000 to 202,000, bringing about manipulation and phantom employment of Saudi Nationals who do not show up at the workplace where they are supposed to be. The number of student workers also skyrocketed from about 26,000 to 97,000, which also reflects its inefficiency. Furthermore, some would receive a small salary in return for keeping their names listed on the company's small payroll" (p. 82)

"The MODON Oasis located in Al Ahsa in the east of Saudi Arabia, is the first industrial city in Saudi Arabia to be entirely run by a female labour force. The Oasis operates on an area of about 500,000 square metres. Equally important, it has 80 factories operating in the service and trade sectors. Of note, the Royal Decree issued on 16 September 2017 allows women to drive cars. This means that women will be more involved in the labor force than before. Now, the Saudi women's political participation is gaining momentum, so to speak, and the female representation is a case in point." (p. 118)

Erin Accampo Hern's "Explaining Success in Africa: Things Don't Always Fall Apart" (2023) is a great teaching book (upper undergraduates or generalist graduate students). The book is easy to read, presents a clear methodology, and integrates theory / variables / data in a most-similar most-different approach. In a class, this could be the foundation, with further readings on the theory and the countries. And, as the author points out, provides an important counter narrative. Recommended, particularly for consideration as a teaching tool. I am also using this as an example for graduate students for thesis ideas. One quote:

"The case comparisons included in this chapter suggest that governments' policy choices have been a key factor distinguishing the countries that have flourished from those that have floundered. Importantly, those policy choices do not exist in a vacuum, but in all cases discussed in this chapter have a clear relationship to the logic of political survival each leader faced. Despite starting with different resources, backgrounds, and timing, Seychelles and Gabon have used policy to nudge investment toward the "next" sector. They both also had political incentives to diversify and distribute government revenue. Neither approach has been perfect, but they have both consistently outperformed their neighbors and other similarly situated countries in both GDP per capita and ­quality-of-life indicators." (Page 41) 

In 2010 Pascale, Sternin and Sternin published "The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's Toughest Problems", published by Harvard Business Review. I am not sure how this book landed on my desk, but takes an outlier sampling approach to be utilized in a self-driven learning context for social change (and in one chapter, corporate change). The book is summative and chapters are essentially extended case studies and there is a methodology at the end. A few quotes:

"This book comes from years of hearing "We've tried everything and nothing works". Positive Deviance (PD) is founded on the premise that at least one person in a community, working with the same resources as everyone else, has already licked the problem that confounds others. This individual is an outlier in the statistical sense – an exception, someone whose outcome deviates in a positive way from the norm. In most cases this person does not know he or she is doing anything unusual. Yet once the unique solution is discovered and understood, it can be adopted by the wider community and transform many lives. From the PD perspective, individual difference is regarded as a community resource Community engagement is essential to discovering noteworthy variants in their minds and adapting their practices and strategies" (Page 3)

"The positive deviance process is not suitable for everything. As noted earlier, it is unnecessary when a technical solution (e.g., drought-resistant corn; a vaccine for smallpox) exists. But the process excels over most alternatives when addressing problems that, to repeat, (1) are enmeshed in a complex social system, (2) require social and behavioral change, and (3) entail solutions that are rife with unforeseeable or unintended consequences. It provides an alternative when problems are viewed as intractable (i.e., other solutions haven't worked). It redirects attention from "what's wrong" to "what's right" – observable exceptions that succeed against all odds." (Page 10).

"… what separates the PD approach from the alternatives. Unless the community itself spearheads the discovery, it doesn't own the "answers". Unless the community designs and staffs the workshops to practice successful strategies, participants will not successful "act their way into a new way of thinking," nor will the practices be sustainable." (Page 155)