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 South Korean Army K1E1 tank crosses a pontoon bridge on the Imjin River during a joint river- crossing exercise as part of the Freedom Shield military drills with US and ROK forces in the border town of Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 20, 2025. (Getty Images)
A flag-raising ceremony is held during the launching ceremony of China's first Type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, on December 27, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)
A Taliban security personnel stands guard outside the Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Kabul on March 30, 2025. (Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP via Getty Images)
German designated chancellor and leader of the German Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, speaks to the media the day after the Hamburg city-state election on March 3, 2025, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup via Getty Images)
Masked Palestinian youths dressed as suicide bombers carry Hamas flags and a makeshift Qassam rocket during a rally organized by Hamas, in the West Bank City of Ramallah, on September 22, 2005 (Jamal Aruri/AFP via Getty Images)