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)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) greets his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad (L) during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on October 20, 2015. (ALEXEY DRUZHININ/AFP/Getty Images)
A Standard Missile-6 demonstrating its ability to intercept ballistic missiles in their final seconds of flight during live fire tests July 28-Aug. 1, 2015, aboard the USS John Paul Jones. (Photo: Missile Defense Agency
Military personnel arrive in a Chinook before Iraqi soldiers take part in a live-fire exercise for under the surveillance of US-led coalition forces at Basmaya base, Iraq on January 27, 2016. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) alongside the Military Sealift Command fast combat support ship USNS Rainier (T-AOE 7). (DoD/Released)