An '''ally''' is a friend. The term can apply to an individual person, but is most usually used of nations which have formed friendships - either by natural community of interests, values, and beliefs, or by treaty. The [[United States]] and [[Britain]] are allies of long standing - the friendship known as the [[Special Relationship]]. However, an ally can be a short-term one - as in the unlikely alliance between [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] between 1939 and 1941. | An '''ally''' is a friend. The term can apply to an individual person, but is most usually used of nations which have formed friendships - either by natural community of interests, values, and beliefs, or by treaty. The [[United States]] and [[Britain]] are allies of long standing - the friendship known as the [[Special Relationship]]. However, an ally can be a short-term one - as in the unlikely alliance between [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] between 1939 and 1941. |