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:
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)
“But only agony, and that has ending;
And the worst friend and enemy is but Death.”
—Rupert Brooke (1887–1915)