[nickik]

It a total overstatment to say that 'The Soviet Union wanted self-defense pacts with England'.

The new Stalin biography by Steven Kotkin goes into great detail about all these negotiation. The way you frame it that the SU 'was not given'that is not how diplomacy works.

The SU might accept a deal with Britain IF they agree to literally everything the SU demanded.

But in reality it was a very clear strategy by Stalin to avoid a 'Imperialist-Capitalist Block' and he had this strategy as early as 1922.

At the same time yoir interpretation of Japan as 'getting encircled' is a very benefical interpretation. The western powers stopped selling them oil because they were a relentlessly agressive empire that attacked China and was talking about far greater things. Not selling an empire like that the resources to expand is not the same as 'encircling them'.

P.S. There were almost no German subs in the pacific, so it not suprising that no ships were attacked there.