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 Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher parades through Red Square during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 7, 2022. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping during a meeting in Xiamen, China, on September 3, 2017. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers an address at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow, on June 1, 2022. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel / SPUTNIK / AFP via Getty Images)
A US Army M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System fires a rocket as part of Nordic Strike 22 at Vidsel Test Range, Sweden, on September 27, 2022. (US Army Photo by Spc. Devin Klecan)
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks at the plenary session during the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum SPIEF 2022, on June 17, 2022, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
A ground crew unload weapons and other military hardware delivered by the United States military at Boryspil Airport near Kyiv on January 25, 2022, in Boryspil, Ukraine. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)