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)
Palestinian militants of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, in the central Gaza Strip on June 30, 2014. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)
Japanese Ground Self Defense Force honor guards hold national flags for visiting US Army General Martin E. Dempsey at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo on October 28, 2011. (KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images)
A live-fire self-defense missile exercise aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) on Sept. 11, 2004. (DoD/Petty Officer 2nd class Jason P. Taylor, U.S. Navy/Released)
Kurdish soldiers with the Peshmerga keep guard near the frontline with Sunni militants on June 25, 2014 on the outskirts of Kirkuk, Iraq.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Naval ships from multiple nations steam in formation during the RIMPAC excercise operations near Oahu, Hawaii, July 11, 2002. (Phil Mislinski/Getty Images)
The nation’s first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom, makes a side launch during her christening at the Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis., Sept. 23, 2006. (Lockheed Martin)