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)
Ukrainian soldiers of the 25th Airborne Brigade in military position situated around the city of Avdiyivka on February 8, 2022 in Avdiyivka, Ukraine. (Photo by Gaelle Girbes/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping pose during their meeting in Beijing, on February 4, 2022. (Photo by Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov in Moscow on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Nikolsky/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting of big businesses at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Nikolsky/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian service members look for and collect unexploded shells after a fighting with Russian raiding group in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on February 26, 2022. (Photo by Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech as he visits the National Space Centre construction site in Moscow on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)