Chinese military personnel take part in a rehearsal ahead of a parade commemorating the eightieth anniversary of victory in World War II in Beijing on August 20, 2025. (Pedro Pardo via Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
US Commerce Secretary Howard William Lutnick and Japanese Minister for Economic Revitalization Ryosei Akazawa shake hands on on September 4, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) sails in formation during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise on July 28, 2022. (DVIDS)
A formation of Dongfeng-41 nuclear missiles takes part in a military parade celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 2019. (Xia Yifang via Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
A microchip and Taiwanese flag displayed on a phone screen are seen in this multiple exposure illustration photo on April 10, 2023. (Jakub Porzycki via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, attending the Navy Day parade in Saint Petersburg on July 30, 2023. (Alexander Kazakov via Getty Images)
A Swedish CB90-class fast assault craft approaches the well deck of the Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall during exercise Steadfast Defender 24 on March 6, 2024, in the Norwegian Sea. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Danielle Serocki)
Ukrainian soldiers of the 79th brigade in the frontline city of Vuhledar, Ukraine, on March 12, 2024. (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers receive training at an undisclosed location in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian soldier looks at the sky after hearing the sound of a nearby drone at the Bakhmut front line in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on January 13, 2024. (Photo by Ignacio Marin/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on February 23, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers of a tank unit continue their military mobility to prepare for combat as the Russia-Ukraine War continues after the second year anniversary in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on March 1, 2024. (Jose Colon via Getty Images)
Ukrainian servicemen of the Skala battalion perform a medical evacuation during a field military exercise in the Donetsk region on February 3, 2024. (Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)
A school director inspects a classroom damaged as a result of a Russian missile attack in Lviv, Ukraine, on February 15, 2024. (Yuriy Dyachyn/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian soldier throws a grenade from a trench during a training in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on February 7, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo via Getty Images)