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)
Supporters cheer under a huge flag of Taiwan during an election campaign rally of Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih in New Taipei City on January 12, 2024. (Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers patrol with a Bradley Fighting vehicle as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in Avdiivka Donbas, Ukraine, on December 4, 2023. (Marek M. Berezowski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian soldiers fire "Mini Grad" multi-barrel rocket launchers at Russian positions in the direction of Kupiansk in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on January 7, 2024. (Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Members of the Yemeni Coast Guard affiliated with the Houthis patrol the Red Sea as demonstrators march through the port city of Hodeida in solidarity with the people of Gaza on January 4, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
The Dmitriy Donskoy nuclear ballistic missile submarine arrives at St Petersburg to take part in a ship parade marking Russian Navy Day in Russia on July 26, 2017. (Sergey Mihailicenko/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)