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)
A serviceman of Ukraine's National Guard in a trench during a tactical exercise on July 22, 2024. (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers prepare the BM-21 artillery vehicle in its fighting position in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on July 23, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian President Viktor Orban, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a meeting during the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 15, 2017, in Beijing, China. (Mikhail Svetlov via Getty Images)
Flags of Ukraine and NATO are seen outside a press conference of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 29 2024. (Photo by STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin grimaces during his meeting with participants of the Russia International Exhibition-Forum on July 8, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
Ukrainian Army soldiers prepare a military intelligence drone for flight in the direction of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, on June 10, 2024. (Photo by Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)
US Army infantry soldiers wait for further instruction during a force on force exercise near Tapa, Estonia, on April 14, 2024. (US Army photo by Spc. Trey Gonzales)