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)
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence on April 1, 2019, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa attend an event in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks at the plenary session during the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum SPIEF 2022, on June 17, 2022, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
A military helicopter flies over the waters of Agana Bay in Hagatna, Guam, on Aug. 10, 2015. (Tiffany Tompkins-Condie/McClatchy DC/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Officers of the China Coast Guard stand on deck as they set sail in the North Pacific Ocean from Shanghai, on July 30, 2021. (Photo by Xinhua via Getty Images)