Enemy

For people who check facts

An enemy or foe is an entity that is forcefully adverse to the person denoting it "enemy". The term is usually used in war, as a denomination of the side one is fighting. It may also be used about weather, diseases and a host of other things, the common connection being that they may cause injury or even death to those they "oppose".

Enemies usually (or perhaps always) have conflicting, or directly opposed, objectives and goals - this state of conflict is typically why two sides regard each other as enemies.

"Enemy" is a strong word, evoking associations of hate, violence, battle and war. The opposite of an enemy is a friend or ally; the state of being or having an enemy is enmity.

Normally, an entry in Wikipedia like this would just refer to the wiktionary entry for this word. However, the concept of an enemy is a large one and the concept deserves some historical treatment.

The concept of the enemy is well covered in the field of Peace studies, which is availble as a a major at many major universities (including a somewhat well-known program of study at American University in Washington, D.C.).

In Peace studies, enemies are those entities who are perceived as frustrating or preventing achievement of a goal. The enemy may not even know they are being regarded as such, since the concept is one-sided.

Thus, in order to achieve peace, one must eliminate the enemy. This can be achieved by either by:

changing one's perception of an entity as enemy, or
by achieving the goal the enemy is frustrating.

Personal conflicts are frequently either unexamined (one's goals are not well defined) or examined only from one point of view. This means it is often possible to resolve conflict (to 'eliminate' the enemy) by redefining goals such that the frustruation (not the person) is either eliminated, obvious, negotiated away, or decided upon.

Quotes:

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The enemy of the enemy of my enemy is my enemy.

Perfect is the enemy of done.