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 man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties signed in Beijing, on March 11, 2023. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud makes a speech during the forty-third Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 9, 2022. (Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks as part of the forty-fourth anniversary events of the Iranian Revolution in Tehran, Iran on February 8, 2023. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Israel, on December 5, 2021. (US Embassy Jerusalem via Flickr)