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)
Yemenis lift a Palestinian flag and placards depicting Houthi group leader Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi and Abu Obaida, the spokesperson of Hamas' armed wing, on January 24, 2024, in Sana'a, Yemen. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei meets with Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force commanders and Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Force officers at the Imam Khomeini Husayniyya in Tehran, Iran, on February 5, 2024. (Photo by Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout /Anadolu via Getty Images)
Houthi followers chant slogans during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians and against the US-led aerial attacks on Yemen on February 2, 2024. (Mohammed Hamoud via Getty Images)
Wang Yi a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China CPC Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee holds talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Bangkok, Thailand, on January 26, 2024. (Wang Teng/Xinhua via Getty Images)