Can A Leader Use Strategy The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Enemy?

Question

Noah · Answer

Growing up reading military memoirs and corporate leadership books gave me a practical bent: employing 'the enemy of my enemy is my enemy' is a tool, not a rule. Start with objectives. If your priority is immediate survival or market share, neutralizing any actor who might later threaten you—even if they helped topple your rival—can be rational. But if you need sustainable governance, alliances of convenience can be far more productive.

I usually run a mental checklist: what are their incentives? Do they have legitimacy with stakeholders? Will cooperation create dependency? If the answers raise red flags, I act like a chess player and block or limit them. Contracts, escrowed resources, and staged integrations help mitigate risk. In boardrooms I've seen companies defeat a dominant competitor by cozying up to fringe players, only to be squeezed later when those fringe players consolidated power. So I recommend calibrated distrust: use allies, but don't hand over the king. Keep contingency plans and maintain communication channels that let you pivot if an erstwhile 'ally' turns hostile.

Kara · Answer

I've been chewing on this question over coffee and late-night strategy reads, and my take is layered. On the one hand, deliberately treating 'the enemy of my enemy as my enemy' can make sense if your goal is to avoid future entanglements: if someone helps defeat a mutual foe but their values, methods, or long-term goals clash with yours, keeping them at arm's length (or outright hostile) prevents a later betrayal or takeover.

That said, it's a blunt instrument. In the short term you may sacrifice useful tactical alliances. History and fiction both teach this — read 'The Art of War' for timing and 'Game of Thrones' for messy consequences. I once allied with a local group to block a landlord, then watched them try to dominate the neighborhood; had I frozen them out immediately I would have lost momentum, but accepting them uncritically cost us autonomy. My rule now is: weigh immediate benefits, set clear, enforceable limits, and have exit conditions. Use intelligence and small, reversible commitments rather than burning bridges or turning every potential ally into an enemy for the sake of purity.

So yes, a leader can use that maxim, but it should be a cautious, intentional choice rather than a blanket doctrine; otherwise you end up isolated and vulnerable, even if you stay ideologically 'pure'.

Luke · Answer

I tend to think of this from a community-organizing angle: sometimes you treat 'the enemy of my enemy' as an enemy because their methods or long-term goals would harm your people, even if they helped on one front. In practice that means fast, tactical alliances only—help together where interests overlap, and never hand them control of infrastructure, resources, or legitimacy.

A concrete rule I lean on is compartmentalization: share only what’s necessary, keep independent decision-making, and formalize the relationship with written boundaries. That way you avoid the classic trap where one partner flips the narrative or absorbs your movement. Also, reputation matters; if you blatantly destroy potential partners out of reflex, others will be reluctant to work with you in the future. So I use this maxim selectively: reject any temporary ally whose long-term goals would replicate the harm you’re fighting, but don’t reflexively ostracize everyone who opposes your opponent—test loyalties and move carefully.

Ruby · Answer

Short take from someone who loves wargames and late-night policy podcasts: yes, a leader can adopt the stance that the enemy of my enemy is my enemy, but it usually reflects a defensive, zero-sum worldview. That posture can protect you from being co-opted or absorbed after a conflict, especially if the so-called ally has incompatible norms or ambitions.

If you go this route, make it strategic—identify which threats are existential and which are negotiable. Use intelligence, limit exposure, and prefer temporary pacts over formal mergers. Often a better path is nuanced: cooperate on narrow objectives, keep separate command structures, and plan exit strategies. It’s less romantic than clear-cut loyalties, but it keeps your movement or organization intact in the long haul.

Can A Leader Use Strategy The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Enemy?

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