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)
Moldovans hold national flags at a rally in the courtyard of Moldovan presidential headquarters in Chisinau, Moldova, on December 17, 2023. (Photo by Elena Covalnco/AFP via Getty Images)
Military fighters affiliated with former Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham attend prayer meeting in Idlib, Syria, on June 16, 2024. (Omar Haj Kadour/AFP via Getty Images)
Smoke rises over hypermarket ‘Epicentr’ after Russian air attack on May 25, 2024, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Li Qiang and Christopher Luxon visit the New Zealand Innovation and Productivity Showcase in Auckland, New Zealand, on June 15, 2024. (Photo by Brett Phibbs/AFP via Getty Images)