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)
Iran Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers' Meeting on June 26, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Fu Tian via Getty Images)
A Task Force 99 team member conducts pre-flight checks on an unmanned aerial vehicle in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Mar. 18, 2025. Task Force 99 is a nimble, mission-driven unit built to drive innovation and strengthen U.S. Air Forces Central capabilities across all domains. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ricky Arnold)
Ukrainian military personnel control the unmanned ground vehicle platform Rys Pro equipped with a remote-controlled machine-gun turret during training on April 18, 2025, in an unspecified area of Ukraine. (Serhii Mykhalchuk via Getty Images)
Ukrainian servicemen of a mobile air defense unit fire a Soviet-made ZU-23 anti-aircraft twin autocannon toward a Russian drone during an air attack near Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, on July 19, 2025. (Roman Pilipey 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
Pilots of the 28th Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine test a fiber optic drone with RPG munition on June 18, 2025, near Kostiantynivka, Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian serviceman stands guard with a shotgun as his fellow soldiers install anti-drone nets over a road at an undisclosed location in the eastern Donetsk region on July 8, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey via Getty Images)
Smoke rises after a reported Israeli strike on a building used by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, part of Iran's state TV broadcaster, on June 16, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Stringer/Getty Images)