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)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Vladimir Putin enters a hall to meet with graduates of higher military educational institutions at the Kremlin on June 23, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov via Getty Images)
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)
President Donald Trump leads President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in the Cross Hall of the White House on August 18, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz via Getty Images)
Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump pose for a photo during the welcoming ceremony prior to their summit on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Getty Images)
An F/A-18E Super Hornet takes off from the flight deck the USS George Washington while underway in the Timor Sea on July 15, 2025, during Talisman Sabre, the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States. (US Navy photo)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office on August 18, 2025. (Mandel Ngan via Getty Images)
A US Marine Corps VXE30 Stalker unmanned aerial system is staged during a maritime domain awareness training exercise in southern Finland on July 31, 2025. (DVIDS)
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)
A service member working with Command Task Force 66 unloads a Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft into the Port of Uskta during exercise Baltic Operations 2025 (BALTOPS 25) on June 8, 2025. (US Navy photo)