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)
A Ukrainian military member sitting on top of an armored vehicle on a dirt road on February 26, 2023, in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
The Ohio-class ballistic-missile submarine USS Alaska returns to its homeport at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia on November 14, 2018. (DVIDS)
A view of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, which was previously the office of the governor-general of Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule. (Walid Berrazeg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
US service members participated in a joint electronic warfare training, where Marines and soldiers learned and effectively utilized electronic warfare equipment in smaller sized combat elements to enhance combat lethality. (US Marine Corps photo by Patrick King)
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)