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US sailors conduct routine maintenance on a jet blast deflector on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on July 9, 2025. (US Navy)
Middle East
Middle East
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(Screenshot via ABC Australia)
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The crude oil tanker Giannis unloads its cargo of Middle Eastern crude at the Agioi Theodoroi Motor Oil Terminal near Corinth, Greece, on August 24, 2026. (Getty Images)
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin walks with China’s President Xi Jinping and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un before a military parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. (Getty Images)
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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Armed Taliban security personnel sit atop a Humvee armored vehicle as they ride along a street in Badakhshan on September 1, 2024. (Getty Images)
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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USS Essex departs the Pride of California Dry Dock in San Diego, California, on September 8, 2023, following a maintenance period. (United States Navy)
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(Screenshot via YouTube)
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US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent takes questions during a press conference at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, on August 24, 2026. (Getty Images)
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(What Really Matters Logo)
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An Iranian national flag waves on a street in downtown Tehran, Iran, on August 23, 2026. (Getty Images)
Experts
James Barnett
Research Fellow
Michael Doran
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East
