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 soldier with the First Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, takes part in a training exercise on March 3, 2023, in Kagoshima, Japan. (US Marine Corps photo by Vincent Pham)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin arrives at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, on March 21, 2023. (Contributor via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow, Russia, March 21, 2023. (Ding Haitao/Xinhua via Getty Images)