This episode explores how the oil crisis of the 1970s helps us understand the role of resources in international politics and how that ultimately led up to WWII. It also questions whether economic embargoes and sanctions are a viable means of expressing moral outrage.
The second world war is the first major war where oil is an essential resource. Countries like Japan, which has almost no access to oil, are vulnerable to the squeezing of their suppliers or even intervention from other countries that want to stop their addiction to Chinese resources.
This episode discusses the economic embargo that the United States imposed on Japan leading up to World War II and examines the debate over how much it was a non-violent way to express moral outrage versus a shove in a direction that would lead directly to war.
The debate regarding foreign intervention is a complex issue involving aspects of power politics and moral outrage, with both potentially conflicting with each other. It is necessary to find a balance between national interests and the atrocities that may occur on foreign soil.