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)
German Chancellor Fredrich Merz during his meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, Poland, on May 7, 2025. (Jakub Porzycki via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and other participants attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders’ summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylyov via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet during the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, on June 25, 2025. (Zelenskiy via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech during the second China–Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 17, 2025. (Huang Jingwen via Getty Images)
Taiwanese soldiers of the 58th Artillery Command mobilize a HIMARS missile system to a tactical position as part of the ongoing Han Kuang military exercise in Taichung, Taiwan, on July 12, 2025. (Daniel Ceng via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un following a meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27, 2019. (Getty Images)
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force held an F-35 aircraft delivery ceremony at Komatsu Air Base in Japan on April 26, 2025. (F-35 Joint Program Office via JASDF and DVIDS)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hands over a letter to US President Donald Trump as they meets at the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 7, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds via Getty Images)