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)
Field artillery cannoneer emplaces M777A2 Howitzer during Artillery Relocation Training Program 21.1, at Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan, April 26, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps/ Michael Jefferson Estillomo)
Members of a People's Liberation Army band stand together at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party on July 1, 2021, at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. (Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers sit on a armored military vehicle in the city of Severodonetsk, Donbas region, on April 7, 2022. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (L) pose for the media ahead of bilateral talks at the 2022 Munich Security Conference on February 19, 2022, in Munich, Germany. (Getty ImagesV
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) delivers remarks alongside U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on February 07, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a video conference with close allies on the situation in and around Ukraine on January 24, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Jesco Denzel/Bundesregierung via Getty Images)