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)
Chinese sailors stand next to a submarine rescue ship Hongzehu from the PLA Navy as it is docked on April 23, 2024, in Qingdao, China.(Kevin Frayer via Getty Images)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives at the Special European Council in Brussels on March 6, 2025. (Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images)
Taiwan's armed forces hold two days of routine drills to show combat readiness ahead of Lunar New Year holidays at a military base on January 11, 2023, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. (Annabelle Chih via Getty Images)
Security forces reporting to Syria's transitional government patrol the streets of Dummar, during an operation to seize weapons and hunt down armed supporters of the ousted Assad leadership on January 15, 2025. (Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images)
HMAS Sydney fires Royal Australian Navy’s first Naval Strike Missile during a long-planned, live-fire sinking exercise off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, on July 17, 2024. (DVIDS)
A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast of a North Korean military parade showcasing a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles in Seoul on February 9, 2023. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)