Chapter 4 Serialization of The Coming China Wars

The "Blood and Nukes for Oil" Wars—The Sum of All Chinese Fears

Team,

This is an interesting historical and geopolitical analysis of the role of oil. As you read this, remember it was written almost 20 years ago — yet nothing seems to have changed.

Peter

Chap 4. The "Blood and Nukes for Oil" Wars—The Sum of All Chinese Fears

Throughout the summer and into the fall of 1941, Japanese negotiators and the United States were at loggerheads. The U.S.-led oil embargo would not be suspended until the Japanese stopped their militaristic expansion. ... By September 1941, Japanese reserves had dropped to 50 million barrels, and their navy alone was burning 2,900 barrels of oil every hour. The Japanese had reached a crossroads. If they did nothing, they would be out of oil and options in less than two years. If they chose war, there was a good chance they could lose a protracted conflict. Given the possibility of success with the second option versus none with the first option, the Japanese chose war.
—Lieutenant Colonel Patrick H. Donovan, U.S. Air Force

It might come as a surprise to many Americans that it was America in 1941 and not the Arabs in 1973 that imposed the world's first oil embargo. Uncle Sam abruptly cut off Japan's imported oil in response to Japan's brutal invasion of China.