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)
The allegedly successful test-fire of the North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location on July 4, 2017. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Crew members are seen on the USS Indiana, a nuclear powered United States Navy Virginia-class fast attack submarine, as it departs Port Canaveral in Florida on October 1, 2018. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A C-17 Globemaster takes off as Taliban fighters secure the outer perimeter alongside the American controlled side of of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
Taiwanese civilians in tactical gear and replica weapons taking part in an urban warfare workshop on June 18 in Linko district, New Taipei City. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP)
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher parades through Red Square during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 7, 2022. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping during a meeting in Xiamen, China, on September 3, 2017. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Mack-Lehigh Valley Operations Manufacturing Facility in Macungie, Pennsylvania on July 28, 2021. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
Xi Jinping speaks during a news conference, displayed on a television screen at a shopping area on June 30, 2022, in Hong Kong. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)