<P> The doctrine of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" was employed by nation states in regions outside of the European theater as well . In the Second Sino - Japanese War, within the Pacific theater, an alliance was formed between Chinese Communists and Chinese Nationalists . Leading up to this, these forces had battled each other throughout the Chinese Civil War . However, they formed an alliance, the Second United Front in response to the mutual threat of Japanese aggression . Similarly, the Malayan Communist Party and the British Empire agreed a truce for the Malayan Campaign and subsequent Japanese Occupation . </P> <P> The doctrine was also used extensively during the Cold War between Western Bloc nations and the Soviet Union . The Soviets and the Chinese aided North Korea during the Korean War as well as the Viet Cong / North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War to oppose American foreign policy goals . Likewise, the United States and its allies supported the Afghan Mujahideen after the Soviet invasion in the hopes of thwarting the spread of Communism . In the Third World, both superpowers supported regimes whose values were at odds with the ideals espoused by their governments . These ideals were capitalism and democracy in the case of the United States, and the Marxist--Leninist interpretation of Communism in the case of the Soviet Union . In order to oppose the spread of Communism, the United States government supported undemocratic regimes, such as Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire and Augusto Pinochet in Chile . </P> <P> The support provided by the Soviet Union towards nations with overtly anti-Communist governments, such as Gamal Abdul Nasser in Egypt, in order to oppose American influence, is another example of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" as policy on an international scale . The Soviets also backed India to counter both the pro-American Pakistani government and the People's Republic of China (following the Sino - Soviet split), despite the fact that India had a democratic government . Similarly, China, following the split, lent support to nations and factions that embraced an anti-Soviet, often Maoist form of Communism, but whose governments nonetheless embraced Sinophobic policies at home, such as the Khmer Rouge . </P> <P> In an example of this doctrine at work in Middle Eastern foreign policy, United States backed the Iraqi government under Saddam Hussein during the Iran--Iraq War, as a strategic response to the anti-American Iranian Revolution of 1979 . A 2001 study of international relations in the Middle East used the proverb as the basis of its main thesis . The thesis examined how enmity between adverse nations evolve and alliances develop in response to common threats . </P>

Who said the enemy of my enemy is my friend