The phrase the enemy of my enemy is my friend (sometimes shortened to enemy mine) is a proverb that advances the concept that because two parties have a common enemy, they can work with each other to advance their common goals. Often described as an Arabic proverb, there is also an identical Chinese proverb.
In foreign policy, it's a doctrine commonly used to interact with a significant enemy through an intermediary rather than through direct confrontation.
Examples throughout history are common, such as longtime enemies Britain and France uniting against Germany during World War I, the Western capitalist democracies aiding the Soviet Union following the Nazi invasion during World War II, or U.S. support for anti-Communist dictatorships during the Cold War.
Read more about The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend: Foreign Policy, Usefulness, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words enemy and/or friend:
“Know your enemy as you know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Twenty-two weeks the men were out as the strike moved into winter. It was strange to go out into the street and find the men there in the daytime. It had a feeling of fright in it. And always the mood of the men grew uglier as empty bellies and desperation began to conquer reason. Any man who was not their friend became their enemy. They knew my father had opposed the strike, and now it was they who opposed him.”
—Philip Dunne (1908–1992)