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Clear all filters- Dwarkesh Patel8 min
Was The War Against Japan Avoidable? - Sarah Paine
Historian discussions analyze how the Smoot-Hawley Tariff fostered global economic instability that enabled militarist factions in Japan, led by War Minister Tojo, to assassinate pro-peace figures and drive nations into World War II. The dialogue examines the United States' strategic dilemma in responding to the oil embargo, weighing the moral necessity of denying resources to an aggressor against the risk of triggering a broader conflict or inadvertently aiding a potential Nazi victory in Eurasia. Ultimately, the analysis concludes that Japan's modern post-war strength was a contingent outcome rather than an inevitable result, highlighting the extreme difficulty of predicting how specific policy choices might have altered the war's trajectory.