In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Vladimir Putin enters a hall to meet with graduates of higher military educational institutions at the Kremlin on June 23, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov via Getty Images)
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
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose for a picture with European leaders following a meeting at the White House on August 18, 2025. (Win McNamee via Getty Images)
A US Marine Corps VXE30 Stalker unmanned aerial system is staged during a maritime domain awareness training exercise in southern Finland on July 31, 2025. (DVIDS)
Sailors assigned to Assault Craft Unit Four operate landing craft air cushions during recovery efforts of a high-altitude balloon in the Atlantic Ocean, on February 8, 2023. (US Navy Photo by Ryan Seelbach)
A sailor assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 conducts a search for debris with an underwater vehicle during recovery efforts of a high-altitude balloon in the Atlantic Ocean on February 7, 2023. (US Navy Photo by Ryan Seelbach)
A People's Liberation Army Air Force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone in Guangdong, China, on September 27, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)
A US Air Force pilot takes off in an F-22 Raptor as part of the mission to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon that crossed into US airspace at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on February 4, 2023. (US Air Force photo by Mikaela Smith)