Introduction: sheep, snow, and bear diplomacy -- Pieces of the puzzle: theories of rivalry politics -- Building pressure: dynamic two-level pressures and rivalry politics -- Zooming in: introduction to the case studies -- Ruin before reconciliation: the Somali-Ethiopian rivalry -- Peace (not) now: the Israeli-Egyptian rivalry -- Climbing the wall: the Sino-American rivalry -- Zooming out: evidence from fifty-six rivalries -- Conclusion