Alliance - in international politics, the union of two thieves

Hear the sharp tongue of Ambrose Bierce, soldier, cynic, and author of The Devil’s Dictionary, who defined with biting wit: “Alliance—in international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other’s pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.” These words are not spoken as sweet philosophy, but as a lash against the hypocrisies of nations. They strip away the lofty rhetoric of treaties and pacts, exposing them as instruments not of honor, but of greed, fear, and convenience.

The origin of this truth lies in the ruthless theater of international politics. Bierce lived in an age of empires, when nations clothed their ambitions in the language of liberty or progress, yet behind the curtain sought only dominion, territory, and wealth. He saw that alliances were rarely founded on virtue. Instead, they were bargains struck by rivals who feared each other as much as they hungered for power. Like thieves who distrust but cannot do without one another, nations entered into alliances not to serve justice, but to secure advantage, to bind each other so tightly that betrayal was riskier than cooperation.

Consider the tale of the Triple Alliance before the First World War: Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. They bound themselves together in promises of defense, yet each distrusted the other. Their union was less a brotherhood than a pact of survival, each with one hand in the pocket of the other, ensuring that no one could act alone without risk. And when war came, Italy abandoned the pact to join the other side, proving Bierce’s sardonic vision true: alliances were not holy bonds, but temporary bargains, fragile as glass, strong only while interests aligned.

Look also to history’s darker unions, such as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, sworn ideological enemies, clasped hands in secret agreement, dividing Poland and Eastern Europe between them. It was the very image of Bierce’s thieves: hands plunged into each other’s pockets, unable to strike separately, but plundering a third with calculated cruelty. This alliance, born of opportunism, did not last, for soon one thief turned on the other. Yet in its brief life, it brought devastation to millions, a reminder of how alliances built on greed lead to ruin.

And yet, O listener, let us not hear Bierce as pure mockery without wisdom. His words warn us to pierce through the noble speeches of kings and presidents, to see the true motives beneath. Alliances are not always evil, but they are always pragmatic, driven by the shifting sands of interest. To mistake them for eternal friendships is folly. To believe they are built on morality alone is self-deception. The wise must remember that in politics, the handshake of nations is as much a grip of restraint as it is of cooperation.

The lesson for us is clear: trust not the rhetoric of alliances, but study the interests that bind them. Nations, like men, are ruled by need, by fear, and by ambition. If you would understand their actions, look not to their words but to the treasures they seek to guard or to seize. Bierce reminds us that cynicism is sometimes the highest realism: to see that behind the banners and treaties, power and survival are the true coins of exchange.

And what actions must we take? As citizens, we must remain vigilant when leaders speak of alliances as sacred or eternal. Ask always: what is gained, what is protected, what is taken from others? In our own lives, too, remember this wisdom: partnerships built on self-interest endure only as long as the interests remain aligned. Choose your alliances wisely—whether in friendship, in work, or in love—lest you find yourself bound to a thief whose hand is already in your pocket.

Thus remember Ambrose Bierce’s sardonic teaching: alliances are unions of thieves, held together not by virtue but by necessity. Let us learn from history that power cloaked in noble language is still power, and that those who mistake opportunism for honor will be undone. Yet let us also learn that true alliances, rare as they are, can only endure when built not merely on interest, but on trust, justice, and the shared good of all.