Divide and conquer, alsodivide and rule (Latin:divide et impera,lit. 'divide and rule'), is anidiom which refers to the practice of gaining and maintainingpolitical or social power by using divisive measures. This includes the exploitation of existing divisions within a political group by its political opponents, and also the deliberate creation or strengthening of such divisions. Outside politics, the idiom has been extended to usage incomputer science andeconomics.

Theidiom primarily refers to the practice of creating divisions between opponents to prevent them from uniting against a common foe, allowing the one who divides to gain or maintainpolitical or social power.^[1][2][3][4] As amaxim, it is commonly recommended to political rulers.^[5] A secondary usage of the idiom refers to the practice of "divid[ing] one's own forces or personnel so as to deal with different tasks simultaneously."^[2] The exact wording of the idiom in English is varied,^[6] includingdivide and rule (mainly inBritish English),^[7]divide and conquer (mainlyAmerican),^[8],divide and govern, anddivide so that you may rule.^[9] Incomputer science,divide-and-conquer describes analgorithm whichrecursively solves a problem by breaking it down into smaller problems.^[10]

The idiomdivide and rule (from the latindivide et impera) first appeared in English around 1600.^[1][11]

The strategy of division and rule has been attributed to sovereigns, ranging fromLouis XI of France to theHouse of Habsburg.Edward Coke denounces it in Chapter I of the Fourth Part of theInstitutes of the Lawes of England, reporting that when it was demanded by theLords andCommons what might be a principal motive for them to have good success inParliament, it was answered: "Eritis insuperabiles, si fueritis inseparabiles. Explosum est illud diverbium: Divide, & impera, cum radix & vertex imperii in obedientium consensu rata sunt." ("You would be invincible if you were inseparable. This proverb, Divide and rule, has been rejected, since the root and the summit of authority are confirmed by the consent of the subjects.")

In a minor variation,Sir Francis Bacon wrote the phrase assepara et impera in a letter toJames I of 15 February 1615.James Madison made this recommendation in a letter toThomas Jefferson of 24 October 1787,^[12] which summarized the thesis ofFederalist No. 10:^[13] "Divide et impera, the reprobated axiom of tyranny, is under certain (some) qualifications, the only policy, by which a republic can be administered on just principles."

Divide et impera is the third of three political maxims inImmanuel Kant'sPerpetual Peace (1795),Appendix I, the others beingFac et excusa ("Act now, and make excuses later") andSi fecisti, nega ("If you commit a crime, deny it"):^[14] Kant refers this tactic when describing the traits of a "political moralist."

In politics, the concept refers to a strategy that breaks up existing power structures, and especially prevents smaller power groups from linking up, causing rivalries and fomenting discord among the people to prevent arebellion against the elites or the people implementing the strategy. The goal is either to pit the lower classes against themselves to prevent arevolution, or to provide a desired solution to the growing discord that strengthens the power of the elites.^[15]

The principle "divide et impera" is cited as a common in politics byTraiano Boccalini inLa bilancia politica.^[16]

In economics, the concept is also mentioned as a strategy formarket segmentation to get the most out of the players in a competitive market.^[17]

While theMongols importedCentral Asian Muslims to serve as administrators inChina, the Mongols also sent Han Chinese and Khitans from China to serve as administrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central Asia, using foreigners to curtail the power of the local peoples of both lands.^[18]

Some Indian historians, such as politicianShashi Tharoor, assert that theBritish Raj frequently used this tactic to consolidate their rule and prevent the emergence of theIndian independence movement, citingLord Elphinstone who said that "Divide et impera was the old Roman maxim, and it should be ours."^[19] ATimes Literary Supplement review by British historian Jon Wilson suggests that although this was broadly the case a more nuanced approach might be closer to the facts.^[20] On the other hand, Proponents ofHindutva, the ideology of the current and recent Indian governments over the years, stress strongly Hindu-Muslim conflict going back centuries before the arrival of the British.

The classic nationalist position was expressed by the Indian jurist and supporter ofIndian reunificationMarkandey Katju, who wrote in the Pakistani paperThe Nation in 2013:^[21]

Up to1857, there were no communal problems in India; all communal riots and animosity began after 1857. No doubt even before 1857, there were differences between Hindus and Muslims, the Hindus going to temples and the Muslims going to mosques, but there was no animosity. In fact, the Hindus and Muslims used to help each other; Hindus used to participate inEid celebrations, and Muslims inHoli andDiwali. The Muslim rulers like theMughals,Nawab of Awadh andMurshidabad,Tipu Sultan, etc. were totally secular; they organisedRamlilas, participated in Holi, Diwali, etc.Ghalib's affectionate letters to his Hindu friends like Munshi Shiv Naraln Aram, Har Gopal Tofta, etc. attest to the affection between Hindus and Muslims at that time. In 1857, the ‘Great Mutiny’ broke out in which the Hindus and Muslims jointly fought against the British. This shocked the British government so much that after suppressing the Mutiny, they decided to start the policy of divide and rule (see online "History in the Service of Imperialism" by B.N. Pande). All communal riots began after 1857, artificially engineered by the British authorities. The British collector would secretly call the HinduPandit, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Muslims, and similarly he would secretly call theMaulvi, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Hindus. This communal poison was injected into our body politic year after year and decade after decade.^[21]

HistorianJohn Keay takes a contrary position regarding British policy, writing:

Stock accusations of a wider Machiavellian intent to 'divide and rule' and to 'stir up Hindu-Muslim animosity' assume some premonition of a later partition. They make little sense in the contemporary context. 'Divide and rule' as a governing precept supposes the pre-existence of an integrated entity. In an India politically united only by British rule – and not yet even by the opposition which it generated – such a thing did not exist. Division was a fact of life. AsMaulana Muhammad Ali would later put it, 'we divide and you rule'. Without recognising, exploring and accommodating such division, British dominion in India would have been impossible to establish, let alone sustain. Provoking sectarian conflict, on the other hand, was rarely in British interest.^[22]

General S.K. Sinha, former Vice-Chief of Army Staff, writes that contrary to what the notion of divide and rule would predict, theBritish Indian Army was effectively integrated:

The undivided army was a unique institution set up by the British in India... [A]ll combat units, exceptGorkhas andGarhwalis, had a mixed combination of Muslims and non-Muslims. They fought wars together and lived as friendly comrades in peace, owing loyalty to their regiments. Political developments with the emergency of the Congress and the Muslim League did not affect them. The Indian Army was totally apolitical till June 3rd 1947... In fact, during the Partition holocaust and till that date, both Muslim and non-Muslim soldiers remained totally impartial in dealing with communal violence. After June 3, 1947 things started changing.^[23]

The Ottoman Empire often used a divide-and-rule strategy, pittingArmenians andKurds against each other. This strategy no longer worked in theRepublic of Turkey because the Armenians were eliminated in theArmenian genocide.^[28]

• Herodotus, (Histories, 5.3) claimed that the Thracians would be the strongest nation in the world if they were united.
• Thucydides in his bookHistory of the Peloponnesian War said that Alcibiades suggested to the Persian Tissaphernes that 'The cheapest plan was to let the Hellenes wear each other out, at a small share of the expense and without risk to himself.^[29]
• Tacitus in Germania. chapter 33 writes "Long, I pray, may foreign nations persist in hating one another .... and fortune can bestow on us no better gift than discord among our foes."
• During theGallic Wars,Caesar was able to use a divide and conquer strategy to easily defeat theGauls, exploiting their fractious nature of their tribal society. Although the remaining Gauls were later united underVercingetorix their resistance was not enough to stop the conquest.^[30][31]
• InRevolutions of 1848, the governments which were being revolted against used this tactic to counter the rebels.^[32][33]
• The colonial authorities inBritish Cyprus often stirred up theTurkish minority in order to neutralize agitation from theGreek majority.^[34][35] This policy intentionally cultivated further animosity between the already divided Greek majority and the Turkish minority (which consists of 18% of the population) in the island that remainsdivided to this day after an invasion byTurkey to establish the state ofNorth Cyprus (which is onlydiplomatically recognized by Turkey).^[36]
• Thepartition of Ireland in 1921 has been claimed as an intentional implementation of this strategy byDavid Lloyd George, although the religious divisions in Ireland were notorious and of long standing.^[37] TheStanford historianPriya Satia claims that the partition of Ireland was in ways a patch-test for thepartition of India in 1947.^[38]

According to Richard Morrock, four tactics of divide and rule practiced by Western colonialists are:^[39]

1. The manufacture of differences within the targeted population;
2. The amplification of existing differences;
3. The use of these differences for the benefit of the colonial empire; and
4. The carry over of these differences into the post-colonial period.

Some analysts assert that theUnited States is practicing the strategy in the 21st-century Middle East through their supposed escalation of theSunni–Shia conflict. British journalistNafeez Ahmed cited a 2008RAND Corporation study for theU.S Armed Forces which recommended "divide and rule" as a possible strategy against theMuslim world in"the Long War".^[40]

ProfessorAvner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official, publicly acknowledged that Hamas was "Israel's creation."^[41] Similar statesments have been made byYasser Arafat.^[42]

Assertions of Israeli support for Hamas date back to the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period marked by significant political upheaval in the Middle East. Former Israeli officials have openly acknowledged Israel's role in providing funding and assistance to Hamas as a means of undermining secular Palestinian factions such as thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Brigadier GeneralYitzhak Segev, who served as the Israeli military governor in Gaza during the early 1980s, admitted to providing financial assistance to theMuslim Brotherhood, the precursor of Hamas, on the instruction of the Israeli authorities. The aim of the support was to weaken leftist and secular Palestinian organizations.^[43]

Israel contributed to the construction of parts of Islamist politicianAhmed Yassin's network of mosques, clubs, and schools in Gaza, as well as the expansion of these institutions.^[43]

Shlomo Brom, retired general and former deputy to Israel's national security adviser, believes that an empowered Hamas helps Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu avoid negotiatings over a Palestinian state, suggesting that there is no viable partner for peace talks.^[44]Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right lawmaker and finance minister under Netanyahu Government, called the Palestinian Authority a "burden" and Hamas an "asset".^[45]

Some consider that contemporaryRussian affairs also have characteristics of a "divide and rule" strategy. Applied domestically to secureVladimir Putin's power in Russia,^[46] it is used abroad inRussian disinformation campaigns to achieve "regime security, predominance in Russia’s near abroad, and world-power status for Russia".^[47]

• Soft power
• Hard power
• International relations
• Political realism
• False flag
• Destabilisation
• Identity politics
• Black propaganda
• Might makes right