ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the first pair of case studies of monarchic dyads: “near misses” of conflicts where war was a real possibility but which were de-escalated. The chapter looks at how monarchic ingroup identity contributed to de-escalation. The first case of Bahraini-Qatari relations shows this process between two similar and close monarchies with an established joint identity that provides a particularly clear and typical case of ingroup identification, while the second case – Saudi-Hashemite relations – looks at a more difficult case, where joint identification was not a given and looks at the scope condition for identification and illustrates the emergence of a common identity from previous rivals and even enemies.
