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)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses reporters as Secretary of State John Kerry listens at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, China, on May 16, 2015. (State Department)
Vladimir Putin, together with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, observed the main stage of the Vostok-2022 strategic command post exercise at the Sergeyevsky range in the Primorye Territory. (Kremlin)
President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during the celebration of the 77th National Liberation Day at Presidential House on August 15, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea. (Ahn Young-Joon - Pool/Getty Images)
Xi Jinping leaves the podium in Hong Kong at a celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the city's handover from Britain to China. (Selim Chtayti/AFP via Getty Images)
An Apple Store at a usually bustling intersection in a popular shopping district after recent COVID-19 outbreaks on May 23, 2022, in Beijing, China. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)