My enemy's enemy



Remember — the lesser of two evils is still evil, and the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

The enemy of your enemy is your friend... at least for a time.

"My enemy's enemy is my friend" is an old Indian saying.

It explains some strange political, religious, and epistemological alliances, such as the Second World War alliance of the US and Britain with the USSR, the alliance between the US and the Khmer Rouge, or the right-wing Mormons and right-wing Catholics during the Proposition 8 campaign in California.

A shorthand version of the saying provides the name for this proverb's entry on TV Tropes, known as "Enemy Mine" (the film starring Dennis Quaid and the story it was based on by Barry Longyear were named after this).

The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) uses this argument extensively in international relations.

One of the more well-known examples of this was the Soviet Union in World War II. At first, they signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, so neither one could get in the way of their plans to invade Poland. Later on, when the Nazis invaded the USSR, the USSR entered a pseudo-alliance with the Allies. However, the ultimate example of the concept is the apparent alliance between Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea, because they are all enemies of the United States and its countless puppets allies.

A more modern example would be when TERFs allied with ultra-conservatives and men's rights activists because they detest transgender people for differing reasons.