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)
An Israeli soldier attaches a Druze flag to the antenna of a Humvee along a barbed-wire fence in the Golan Heights near the Druze village of Majdal Shams on July 19, 2025. (Jalaa Marey via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump leads President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders in the Cross Hall of the White House on August 18, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a statement during a press conference with US President Donald Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)
Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump pose for a photo during the welcoming ceremony prior to their summit on August 15, 2025, in Anchorage, Alaska. (Getty Images)
A refugee camp created after Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia is seen between Gori and South Ossetia, Georgia, on March 17, 2017. (Nicolas Economou via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold a joint press conference in the White House on February 13, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds via Getty Images)
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 Chinese national flag is seen in the foreground with container ships, cranes, and stacked shipping containers at the Yantian International Container Terminal under cloudy skies in Shenzhen, China. (Cheng Xin viaGetty Images)
The national flag of India is hoisted next to the US national flag at Times Square to mark Indian Independence Day in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy via Getty Images)