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)
Soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne provide security during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 21, 2021. (Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Isaiah Campbell)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses reporters as Secretary of State John Kerry listens at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, China, on May 16, 2015. (State Department)
Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signing the arms control agreement banning the use of intermediate-range nuclear missiles, the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Reduction Treaty, in Washington DC on December 8, 1987. (Bettman via Getty Images)
An Apple Store at a usually bustling intersection in a popular shopping district after recent COVID-19 outbreaks on May 23, 2022, in Beijing, China. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)