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 and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping make a statement to the press following their talks on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 11, 2018. (Sergei Chirikov/AFP via Getty Images)
A Ukrainian man stands in the rubble in Zhytomyr on March 02, 2022, following a Russian bombing the day before. (Photo by Emmanuel Duparcq/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese Leader Xi Jinping holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 4, 2022. (Photo by Li Tao/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the National Space Centre construction site in Moscow on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Sergei Guneyev / Sputnik/ AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping attend a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg on June 7, 2019. (Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images)
People gather in front of T-34 tank at a Soviet War Memorial to protest against the ongoing war in Ukraine on February 27, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Getty Images)
Soldiers help civilians cross a broken bridge as they flee their besieged city of Irpin, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)