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)
A Ukrainian soldier sits behind an MR-2 Viktor anti-aircraft system on September 11, 2024, in Sudzha, Kursk Region, Russia. (Oleg Palchyk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
US Marine Corps Sgt. Vincent Tran, a transmissions systems operator, prepares to launch an RQ-20B Puma small uncrewed aerial system during Keris Marine Exercise 2023 at Piabung Training Area in Sukabumi, West Java, Indonesia, on November 30, 2023. (US Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Dean Gurule)