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)
Afghan security personnel stand guard along the road amid ongoing fight between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters in Kandahar on July 9, 2021 (Photo by JAVED TANVEER/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian battlecruiser 'Pjotr Velikij' passes the Great Belt Bridge as it leads nuclear submarine 'Dmitrij Donskoj' through the Danish waters on July 21, 2017 near Korsor, Denmark. (Photo by Ole Jensen - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
A general view shows the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain with a hole on its left portside after a collision with oil tanker, outside Changi naval base in Singapore on August 21, 2017. (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Members of a People's Liberation Army band stand together at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party on July 1, 2021 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
U.S. soldiers move in formation while controlling unmanned vehicles as part of an exercise in 2016 at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii. (Staff Sgt. Christopher Hubenthal/U.S. Air Force)