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:
“You shouldn’t be a big shot about your fate. I’m an enemy of Destiny, I’m not a Greek, I’m a Berliner.”
—Alfred Döblin (1878–1957)
“There is as much difference between the counsel that a friend giveth, and that a man giveth himself, as there is between the counsel of a friend and of a flatterer. For there is no such flatterer as is a man’s self.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)