One of the most fascinating MBA classes I took was one that focused not on the economics of business, but the practicality of how culture influences how business happens. This analysis of Middle Eastern warfare falls right into Hofstede's cultural dimensions for business: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstede...

While an in-depth read, the parallels were fascinating and also describes one of the reasons why American pragmatism will NEVER solve the problems in the Middle East.