User:JJLatWiki/The enemy of my enemy is my friend

The phrase, The enemy of my enemy is my friend is usually considered a foreign policy doctrine that is commonly used to confront a significant enemy through an intermediary in order to undermine the enemy and in a "cold" manner, as opposed to a "hot", direct confrontation.

It's an ancient proverb that means that solely because two parties have a common enemy, they are friends. It's commonly described as an Arab proverb, but there is also an identical Chinese proverb and both may be an extension of another Chinese proverb that says, "It is good to strike the serpent's head with your enemy's hand."

In history
In the Bible, Matthew 22, the Pharisees and the Herodians united against Jesus. Even though they hated each other, they had a common enemy.

In foreign policy
The doctrine was used extensively during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Some possible examples of this doctrine playing itself out is the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Soviet War in Afghanistan, and the backing of Saddam Hussein by the United States. As a foreign policy, the doctrine is problematic because the basis for the allegiance isn't as strong as first being a friend with a common enemy. So, throughout history, friends united only by a common enemy have turned on each other when the enemy disappears.

In business
The doctrine can also be seen in the business partnerships formed over the years. One example might be in the speculated purchase of Yahoo! by Microsoft in an attempt to gain marketshare from Google in the online search engine market.

In nature
Humans are not the only species to employ the doctrine. Some creatures have evolved to take advantage of the fact that some creatures have natural enemies and benefit can be gained by in turn making friends with one or the other. An example that might illustrate this is the Pilot fish that cleans parasites off larger predators like sharks. These smaller fish swim freely around the sharks and even inside the mouths of the sharks that could easily eat the small fish. Since the shark's enemy is the parasite and the parasite's enemy is the smaller fish, the shark considers the Pilot fish a friend and accomodates an otherwise potential food source.

Criticisms
Using a common enemy as the basis for a friendship is problematic because there are probably very few other areas for common ground, and absent the common enemy, the friends might otherwise be enemies themselves. If the common enemy disappears, the friends might turn on each other.

Variations
The enemy of my enemy is my friend is one of four rules in the rule of triadic interaction. The others are: "the friend of my friend is my friend", "the friend of my enemy is my enemy", and "the enemy of my friend is my enemy"