An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
A protester flashes victory signs as traffic slows during demonstrations in Hamedan, Iran, on January 1, 2026. The demonstrations erupted after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their businesses to protest the sharp fall of Iran’s currency and worsening economic conditions. (Getty Images)
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
The first of two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test on September 10, 2013. (Missile Defense Agency photo)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Russia, on May 26, 2023. (Photo by Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning prepares for sea trials at Dalian shipyard on February 29, 2024, in Dalian, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Pro-Taiwan independence activists protest outside the Taoyuan International Airport as they hold a banner reading "Ma Ying-jeou don't be a traitor!" before Taiwan's former president Ma Ying-jeou leaves for a visit to China, in Taoyuan on April 1, 2024.
A US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress flies in formation over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on February 24, 2024, in the Philippine Sea. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Thomas Gooley)