The 48 Laws Of Power

14 LAW 2

then,

to

use

enemiesasenemiesrather

than

transforming

themintofriends

orallies.

Mao

Tse-tung

sawconflictas

key

in

his

approach

to

power.

In 1937 the

Japanese

invaded

China,

i.nte.rrupi:i:ug

theaim‘!warbetweenModsCom-

munistsandtheir

enemy,

theNationalists.

Fearing

thatthe

Japanese

would

wipe

them

out,

some

Communist

leadersadvocated

leaving

theNationaliststo

fight

the

Japanese,

and

using

thetimeto

recuperate.

Mao

disagreed:

The

Japanese

couldnot

possibly

defeatand

occupy

avast

country

likeChinafor

long.

Once

theyleft,

the

Communistswouldhave

grownrusty

if

they

hadbeenoutofcombatfor

several

years,

andwould

be

ill

prepared

to

reopen

their

struggle

withthe

Nationalists.

To

fight

aformidablefoelike

the

Japanese,

in

fact,

wouldbe

the

perfecttraining

for

theCommunists’

ragtagarmy.

Mao’s

plan

was

adopted,

and

it

worked:

By

thetimethe

Japanese

finally

retreated,

the

Communistshad

gained

the

fightingexperience

that

helped

themdefeat

theNationalists.

Years

later,

aJapanese

visitortriedto

apologize

to

Maoforhiscoun-

try’s

invasionofChina. Mao

interrupted,

“Should Inotthank

you

in»

stead?”Withouta

worthy

opponent,

he

explained,

amanor

group

cannot

grow

stronger.

Mao’s

strategy

ofconstantconflicthasseveral

keycomponents.

First,

becertain

thatinthe

long

run

you

will

emerge

victorious.Never

pick

a

fight

withsomeone

you

arenotsure

you

can

defeat,

asMaoknewthe

Japanese

wouldbedefeatedintime.

Second,

if

you

haveno

apparent

ene-

mies,

you

mustsometimesset

up

aconvenient

target,

even

turning

afriend

intoan

enemy.

Maousedthistactictimeand

again

in

politics.

Third,

use

suchenemiesto

define

your

causemore

clearly

to

the

public,

even

framing

itas

a

struggle

of

goodagainst

evil.Mao

actuallyencouraged

Chi.na’sdis

agreements

withtheSovietUnionandtheUnited

States;

withoutclear-cut

enemies,

he

believed,

his

people

wouldlose

any

senseofwhatChinese

CommunismmeantA

sharply

defined

enemy

isafar

strongerargument

for

your

sidethanallthewords

you

could

possiblyputtogether.

Neverletthe

presence

ofenemies

upset

ordistress

you—you

arefar

betteroffwithadeclared

opponent

ortwothannot

knowing

where

your

realenemieslie.Themanof

power

welcomes

conflict,

using

enemiesto

enhancehis

reputation

asasurefoobed

fighter

whocanberelied

upon

in

times

of

uncertainty.