Having dismissed the idea of attacking the USSR, Japan’s leaders turned their attention instead to another great power: the United States. The inability of the Japanese to achieve further traction in China led to calls for a wider expansion of their influence in the region, in particular Southeast Asia, with its rich supply of oil, rubber, and other materials that were essential to the war effort. From 1940 onward, demands such as the closing of the Burma Road had made it evident that Tokyo was following a more assertive policy in Asia. Despite their inability to subdue China, Japanese leaders
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