divide and conquer

idiom

variants or divide and rule

: to make a group of people disagree and fight with one another so that they will not join together against one

His military strategy is to divide and conquer.

Examples of divide and conquer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In a joint statement, Rohingya activists urged the Arakan Army leadership not to fall into the military’s trap of playing divide and conquer by trying to pit the two communities against each other. —Verena Hölzl, New York Times, 3 June 2024

For over a decade, Netanyahu pursued a policy of weakening Palestinian moderates and strengthening Hamas in order to divide and conquer and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state. —Matthew Weinstein, Baltimore Sun, 19 Apr. 2024

Clive Owen hopes to divide and conquer with his dual Emmy submissions this year. —Clayton Davis, Variety, 10 Apr. 2024

That might raise eyebrows from competitors about where that close partnership ends—indeed, whether Xpeng and Volkswagen could strategize to divide and conquer. —Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 2 Apr. 2024

In short, the Academy Awards’ ability to divide and conquer worked for a number of years. —Fran Hoepfner, The Atlantic, 10 Mar. 2024

And then Kate had a hand in that, and obviously Sandra was planting the seed with you to try to divide and conquer. —EW.com, 8 Mar. 2024

Both have leaders who took office with a populism that caught their opponents off guard, upending their countries’ political establishments with culture wars that helped divide and conquer their critics. —Gregory Feifer, Foreign Affairs, 15 Feb. 2017

For a long time, Netanyahu played a game of divide and conquer, seeking a tame but viable Hamas in Gaza to act as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and ensure that there was no progress toward a Palestinian state. —Roger Cohen, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2024