This episode examines how global trade has shifted from cooperation to confrontation, with nations using tariffs, sanctions, and supply-chain control as tools of economic warfare. It explains what trade wars are, why they emerge, and how they are driven less by protecting workers and more by struggles for power, technology, and global influence.

Focusing on examples like the U.S.–China trade conflict, the episode shows how modern trade wars extend beyond goods to strategic resources such as semiconductors and critical supply chains. It also explores the role of sanctions as a form of economic punishment and highlights how globalization has created vulnerabilities that states now seek to exploit.

Ultimately, the episode reveals that while trade wars are framed as patriotic or strategic victories, their real costs are borne by ordinary people through higher prices, job losses, and economic instability. It concludes by warning that a fragmented, weaponized global economy increases the risk of long-term conflict, making cooperation and fair trade more urgent than ever.