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
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) generals and commanders attend a memorial ceremony for IRGC personnel killed in the Iran-Israel war in Tehran, Iran, on July 2, 2025. (Getty Images)
People walk in Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 13, 2022, two days before the city hosted a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. (Alexander Nemenov via Getty Images)
A woman walks past a concrete shelter painted in the style of Ukrainian embroidered ornamentation on May 17, 2025, in Kherson, Ukraine. According to the city military administration, there are over 800 shelters of various types in Kherson. (Ivan Antypenko via Getty Images)
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud makes a speech during the forty-third Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 9, 2022. (Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Saudi Minister of State Musaad bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Wang Yi, and Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani in Beijing, China, on March 10, 2023. (Luo Xiaoguang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei speaks as part of the forty-fourth anniversary events of the Iranian Revolution in Tehran, Iran on February 8, 2023. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides presents his credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem, Israel, on December 5, 2021. (US Embassy Jerusalem via Flickr)