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 man holds up a sign demanding that soldiers from the United States Army leave Niger without negotiation during a demonstration in Niamey, Niger, on April 13, 2024. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
A drone equipped with an electronic warfare system takes off during a presentation on March 19, 2024, in Ukraine. (Photo by Viktor Fridshon/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukrainian infantrymen from the 126th Territorial Defense Brigade train on the banks of the Dnipro on April 16, 2024, in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine. (Photo by Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)