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.

America’s attempt to pressure Japan to withdraw from China constituted a deep humiliation to a country with a premium on “saving face.” It also left the Japanese military with a petroleum reserve that would be quickly exhausted—and some say, little choice but to attack Pearl Harbor and wage war on the United States.

Today, oil remains the lifeblood of every modern economy, and considerable blood continues to be shed in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere to control or protect the vast network that brings this “black gold” from faraway places to the world’s factories and transportation systems. What is disturbingly new about today’s “blood for oil” wars is China’s emerging and highly disruptive role.

China’s rapidly expanding thirst for petroleum has not only sent gas prices and the price of a barrel of oil soaring. China’s brass-knuckled, amoral approach to securing its oil reserves is facilitating such tragedies as the slaughter of Burmese protestors and the Darfur genocide. China’s willingness to trade “blood and nukes for oil” is also rapidly accelerating the global arms race and nuclear proliferation.