co-opt

v. t.	1.	To choose or elect in concert with another. Each of the hundred was to coöpt three others. - Jowett (Thucyd.).
	2.	To choose or elect as a colleague or fellow member of a group; as, The church members co-opted individuals from similar backgrounds to replenish the congregation.
	3.	To assimilate (a smaller group) into a larger group.
	4.	To persuade an opponent to join one's own side.
	5.	To appoint summarily (with or without the appointee's consent).
	6.	To appropriate (something rightly belonging to another) as one's own; to preempt; as, to co-opt someone's name.

Verb	1.	co-opt - choose or elect as a fellow member or colleague; "The church members co-opted individuals from similar backgrounds to replenish the congregation"
	2.	co-opt - neutralize or win over through assimilation into an established group; "We co-opted the independent minority tribes by pulling them into the Northern Alliance"
	3.	co-opt - appoint summarily or commandeer; "The army tried to co-opt peasants into civil defence groups"
	4.	co-opt - take or assume for one's own use; "He co-opted the criticism and embraced it"

neutralize