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)
US Soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion engage targets with a pair of high mobility artillery rocket systems during Exercise Griffin Shock 23 live fire event in Bemowo Piskie, Poland, on May 19, 2023. (John Schoebel via DVIDS)
A war plane belonging to the Ukrainian Air Force conducts operation flight to target trenches of Russian forces through the Donetsk, Ukraine, on May 9, 2023. (Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Mohammed bin Salman greets Bashar Al Assad ahead of the 32nd Arab League Summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on May 19, 2023. (Bandar Aljaloud/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A Taiwanese honour guard takes part in a changing of the guard ceremony at the Martyrs' Shrine in Taipei on April 10, 2023. (Jameson Wu/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joins G7 world leaders on the final day of the G7 Summit on May 21, 2023, in Hiroshima, Japan. (Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool via Getty Images)