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)
Soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne provide security during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 21, 2021. (Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Isaiah Campbell)
Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends a meeting with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on September 20, 2017. (Lintao Zhanf/AFP via Getty Images)
An RT-2PM2 intercontinental ballistic missile on display at Army Expo 2022 in Moscow's Patriot Park on August 20, 2022. (Washington Post via Getty Images)