the enemy of my enemy is my friend

English

Alternative forms

• my enemy's enemy is my friend

Proverb

the enemy of my enemy is my friend

1. It is sometimes necessary to cooperate with a person one does not like or agree with, in order to combat a common threat.

Translations

it is sometimes necessary to cooperate with a person one does not like or agree with, in order to combat a common threat

• Arabic: عَدُوُّ عَدُوِّي صَدِيقِي (ʕaduwwu ʕaduwwī ṣadīqī)
• Armenian: իմ թշնամու թշնամին իմ ընկերն է (im tʻšnamu tʻšnamin im ənkern ē)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 敵人的敵人就是朋友／敌人的敌人就是朋友 (dik⁶ jan⁴ dik¹ dik⁶ jan⁴ zau⁶ si⁶ pang⁴ jau⁵)

  Mandarin: 敵人的敵人就是朋友／敌人的敌人就是朋友 (dírén dì dírén jiùshì péngyǒu)

• Dutch: de vijand van mijn vijand is mijn vriend
• Esperanto: la malamiko de mia malamiko estas mia amiko
• French: l’ennemi de mon ennemi est mon ami
• German: der Feind meines Feindes ist mein Freund
• Italian: il nemico del mio nemico è mio amico
• Korean: 내 원수의 적이 내 친구 야 (nae wonsuui jeogi nae chin'gu ya)
• Polish: wróg mojego wroga jest moim przyjacielem
• Portuguese: o inimigo do meu inimigo é meu amigo
• Romanian: dușmanul dușmanului meu este prietenul meu
• Russian: враг моего врага — мой друг (vrag mojevo vraga — moj drug)
• Spanish: el enemigo de mi enemigo es mi amigo
• Turkish: düşmanımın düşmanı dostumdur
• Ukrainian: ворог мого ворога — мій друг (voroh moho voroha — mij druh)
• Vietnamese: kẻ thù của kẻ thù của tôi là bạn của tôi

See also

• war makes strange bedfellows