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)
A Chinese flag flutters in the wind at a beach on Pingtan Island, the closest point in China to Taiwan’s main island, in Fujian Province, China, on October 15, 2024. (Adek Berry via Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at a press conference at the State Department in Washington, DC, on July 1, 2025. (Allison Robbert via Getty Images)
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
President Donald Trump shakes hands with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen as he announces a trade deal with the EU at Trump Turnberry golf club on July 27, 2025, in Turnberry, Scotland. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)
The scientific ice-going Kronprins Haakon sails through the sea ice in eastern Spitzbergen in the Svalbard archipelago on April 10, 2025. (Olivier Morin via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump waves as he greets Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba upon arrival outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Mandel Ngan via Getty Images)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japan’s Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Ryosei Akazawa shake hands during a photo session as they arrive at the USA Pavilion on US National Day at the World Expo 2025 on July 19, 2025, in Osaka, Japan. (Tomohiro Ohsumi via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attend a welcoming ceremony prior to their talks at the Ak Orda Presidential Palace, on November 27, 2024, in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Getty Images)