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An enemy or a foe is an individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening. The concept of an enemy has been observed to be "basic for both individuals and communities".Mortimer Ostow, Spirit, Mind, & Brain: A Psychoanalytic Examination of Spirituality and Religion (2007), p. 73. The term "enemy" serves the social function of designating a particular entity as a threat, thereby invoking an intense emotional response to that entity.Martha L. Cottam, Beth Dietz-Uhler, Elena Mastors, Introduction to Political Psychology (2009), p. 54. The state of being or having an enemy is enmity, foehood or foeship.
The characterization of an individual or/and group as an enemy is called demonization. The propagation of demonization is a major aspect of propaganda. An "enemy" may also be conceptual; used to describe impersonal phenomena such disease, and a host of other things. In theology, "the Enemy" is typically reserved to represent an evil deity,Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive culture (1873), p. 323-4. devil or a demon. For example, "in early Iroquois legend, the Sun and Moon, as god and goddess of Day and Night, had already acquired the characters of the great friend and enemy of man, the Good and Evil Deity". Conversely, some religions describe a monotheistic God as an enemy; for example, in 1 Samuel 28:16, the spirit of Samuel tells a disobedient Saul: "Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?"
"The enemy," as the object of social anger or repulsion, has throughout history been used as the prototypical propaganda tool to focus the fear and anxiety within a society toward a particular target. The target is often general, as with an ethnic group or race of people, or it can also be a conceptual target, as with an ideology which characterizes a particular group. In some cases the concept of the enemy have morphed; whereas once racial and ethnic claims to support a call to war may later have changed to ideological and conceptual based claims.
During the Cold War, the terms "Communists" or "Reds" were believed by many in American society to mean "the enemy," and the meaning of the two terms could be extremely pejorative, depending on the political context, mood, or state of fear and agitation within the society at the time.
There are many terms and phrases that allude to overlooking or failing to notice an enemy, such as Trojan horse or wolf in sheep's clothing.Vũ, Hoàng Thảo. A study on techniques to learn English idioms and proverbs. Diss. Đại học Dân lập Hải Phòng, 2010. Generally, the counterpoint to an enemy is a friend or ally, although the term frenemy has been coined to capture the sense of a relationship wherein the parties are allied for some purposes and at odds with one another for other purposes.
The concept of the enemy is well covered in the field of peace and conflict studies, which is available as a major at many major universities. 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 threat. This can be achieved by:
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 cause of the conflict) by redefining goals such that the frustration (not the person) is eliminated, obvious, negotiated away, or decided upon.
The Book of Exodus states: "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and thou wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him."Exodus 23:4-5. The Book of Proverbs similarly states: "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth",Proverbs 24:17. and: "If thine enemy be hungry give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty give him water to drink. For thus shalt thou heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee".Proverbs 25:21-22. The Jewish Encyclopedia contends that the opinion that the Old Testament commanded hatred of the enemy derives from a misunderstanding of the Sermon on the Mount, wherein Jesus said: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies and pray for them that persecute you".Matthew 5:43-44.
The Jewish Encyclopedia also cites passages in the Talmud stating: "If a man finds both a friend and an enemy requiring assistance he should assist his enemy first in order to subdue his evil inclination", and: "Who is strong? He who converts an enemy into a friend".
The concept of Ahimsa, found in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, also captures this sentiment, requiring kindness and non-violence towards all living things on the basis that they all are connected. leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi strongly believed in this principle, stating that "to one who follows this doctrine there is no room for an enemy".Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, The Satyagraha Ashram, reported in The Gandhi Reader: A Source Book of His Life and Writings, 2nd ed. (Madras: Samata Books, 1984), p. 138.
In in the New Testament, Saint Paul refers to Jesus's reign with all his enemies under his feet, until finally death, the last enemy, is destroyed. Methodism writer Joseph Benson notes from this text that this enemy, death, "continues, in some measure, to hold the subjects of Christ under his dominion" until the end.Benson, J., Benson Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15, accessed 26 November 2023
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