An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Oana-SilviaȚoiu speaks during a joint press conference with the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine on August 7, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
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)
The first of two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test on September 10, 2013. (Missile Defense Agency photo)
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomes the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs Li Hui at the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters in Moscow, Russia, on May 26, 2023. (Photo by Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning prepares for sea trials at Dalian shipyard on February 29, 2024, in Dalian, China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Pro-Taiwan independence activists protest outside the Taoyuan International Airport as they hold a banner reading "Ma Ying-jeou don't be a traitor!" before Taiwan's former president Ma Ying-jeou leaves for a visit to China, in Taoyuan on April 1, 2024.
A US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress flies in formation over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on February 24, 2024, in the Philippine Sea. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Thomas Gooley)