My enemy's enemy

[[File:INF3-335 Unity of Strength Together we shall strangle Hitlerism.jpg|thumb|right|165px|UK-Soviet unity poster from [[World War Two]].]]
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{{cquote|Remember — the ''lesser'' of two evils is ''still evil'', and the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.|||[[Penn Jillette]], ''[[Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]]''<ref>''[[Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]]'' - "''Holier than Thou''" (S03E02)</ref>}}

{{cquote|The enemy of your enemy is your friend... at least for a time.|||The Arilou, ''Star Control 2''}}

"'''My enemy's enemy is my friend'''" is an old Indian saying.<ref>http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00litlinks/kautilya/book06.htm</ref>

It explains some strange [[political]], [[religious]], and [[Epistemology|epistemological]] alliances, such as the [[Second World War]] alliance of the [[United States|US]] and [[United Kingdom|Britain]] with the [[Soviet Union|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]].{{fact}}

A shorthand version of the saying provides the name for this proverb's entry on [[TV Tropes]], known as "[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EnemyMine Enemy Mine]" (the [[Films|film]] starring Dennis Quaid and the story it was based on by Barry Longyear were named after this).<ref>[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/EnemyMine Film / Enemy Mine] ''TV Tropes''.</ref>

The [[Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)]] uses this argument extensively in [[international relations]].{{fact}}

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.{{fact}}

A more modern example would be when [[TERF]]s allied with ultra-[[conservative]]s and [[men's rights movement|men's rights activists]] because they detest [[transgender]] people for differing reasons.<ref>[https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2019/03/08/house-republicans-hide-behind-lesbian-radical-feminist-to-push-anti-trans-agenda/ House Republicans Hide Behind ‘Lesbian Radical Feminist’ to Push Anti-Trans Agenda] from the Rewire News Group</ref><ref>[https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/9/5/20840101/terfs-radical-feminists-gender-critical The rise of anti-trans “radical” feminists, explained], Vox</ref>{{better source}}

Corporations are also known to form unlikely alliances especially when two rival companies have a mutual enemy, such as with Intel collaborating with long-time rival AMD for a CPU-GPU package in a bid to challenge graphics juggernaut Nvidia; the inclusion of a graphics processor from AMD is an apparent stop-gap move while Intel was busy developing their own graphics architecture to take on Nvidia ''and'' AMD.<ref name="kaby">{{Cite web |title=Intel Kaby Lake G Core i7-8705G review: Why Nvidia should be scared |url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/401985/intel-kaby-lake-g-core-i7-8705g-review.html |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=PCWorld}}</ref> Similarly, [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]] joined forces with its chief rival Warner Bros. in a Disney+/Hulu/Max (formerly HBO Max) bundle in a bid to take on the likes of Netflix and Paramount (through their Paramount+ service).<ref name="Vincent">{{Cite web |last=Vincent |first=Brittany |date=2024-07-26 |title=Surprise! You can now bundle Hulu, Disney Plus, and Max for $17 |url=https://mashable.com/article/july-26-disney-hulu-max-bundle-deal |access-date=2024-08-05 |website=Mashable |language=en}}</ref> This perhaps led to [[conspiracy theories]] accusing otherwise feuding companies of colluding with each other to suppress certain things, e.g. the 2023 propaganda film ''[[Sound of Freedom]]'', whose delay was attributed to mainstream film studios nixing it due to "sensitive subject matter" which wingnuts took as a coverup of corporations' crimes.<ref>[https://www.quora.com/Disney-NYTs-Netflix-etc-show-a-concerted-effort-to-cancel-Sound-of-Freedom-Regardless-the-accuracy-of-their-arguments-do-they-have-such-contempt-for-people-s-intelligence-they-dont-realize-this-implicates-them-or-5 Disney, NYTs, Netflix, etc., show a concerted effort to cancel Sound of Freedom. Regardless the accuracy of their arguments, do they have such contempt for people’s intelligence they don't realize this implicates them, or are they too afraid to care?]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Two wrongs don't make a right]]
*[[Horseshoe theory]]

==External links==
*[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20041231.html Maxim 29: Enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less.]

==References==
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{{stub|logic}}
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[[Category:Informal fallacies]]
[[Category:Political terms]]

Categories: Informal fallacies, Political terms