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)
French President Emmanuel Macron greets Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Antoine Gyori-Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Houthi followers carry weapons as they march over an American flag during a rally against the US-led aerial attacks on Yemen on March 9, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken follows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 26, 2024. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
A small boat transfers a Romanian boarding team from Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) ship ROS Regele Ferdinand to SNMG2 flagship HMS Duncan on February 7, 2018. (NATO photo by GBRN LPhot Paul Hall)
A protestor holds a Taurus missile sign at a demonstration to show support for Ukraine in Cologne, Germany, on January 6, 2024. (Photo by Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images)