Two literatures worth separating: the academic political economy of rentier states, which explains the structures, and the recent Saudi reporting, which explains the current dealmaking.
Mohammed bin Salman's rise to power in Saudi Arabia and the decisions that followed.
Egypt is the anchor case throughout; the standard textbook on regional state-business relations.
How oil revenue let rulers buy out the merchant families; the origin of the modern business elite.
The emirate's development model and its structural dependencies.
Sovereign funds, diversification plans and the limits of the rentier bargain.
Saudi Arabia told through its oil business, from the 1930s concession to Aramco.