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)
President Joe Biden listens to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a press conference at the Camp David Trilateral Summit in Maryland on August 18, 2023. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
A crewman does preflight checks on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for launch aboard a MKVI patrol boat on October 16, 2019, in the Pacific Ocean. (US Navy photo by Chief Boatswain’s Mate Nelson Doromal Jr.)
The first of two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test on September 10, 2013. (Missile Defense Agency photo)
Ukrainian soldiers participate in a military training drill at an undisclosed location in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on March 6, 2024. (Jose Colon via Getty Images)
The USS General Frank Besson departs Langley, Virginia, for the Gaza to begin construction on the Gaza aid pier on March 9, 2024. (US Central Command via DVIDS)