definitely they are not the same...

[AUTOMOON]

Alliance, alighment, federation and ally----what are the differences?

Your opinion , welcome

[Raddox]

Alliance, alighment, federation and ally----what are the differences?

Your opinion , welcome

Alliance - an organization of people (or countries) involved in a pact or treaty

Alignment - how parts in a machine is aligned... also I guess you can thalk about the diffent parties alignments in politics

Federation - an organization formed by merging several groups or parties

Ally - to form an alliance, or another party or country you're allied with.

[RonBee]

A federation is more stable and more permament than an alliance, which can be quite temporary. Alignment can be used as a synonym for alliance. An ally is a member of an alliance. (It is not a synonym to the others.

Rhyming Riddles
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2248

Brief Verse (Couplets)
http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1579

:)