ABSTRACT
Until the mid-1950s, the bitter conflict between the Hashemite and Saudi dynasties remained a permanent facet of inter-Arab relations. Every configuration of political coalitions in the Arab world necessarily pitted Saudi Arabia against Iraq and Jordan. The years 1956-58 saw the dissipation of this long-lasting feud. The tripartite coalition between Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia, which had been formed during 1955, was gradually replaced by a royalist-conservative axis which included the monarchies of Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.1 This was the first time that common interests shared by the Saudis and the Hashemites had induced their leaders to overcome past differences and form a new alignment against the emerging Egyptian challenge posed by 'Abd al-Nasir.
