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)
Debris lies on the ground by the wreckage of Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia June 29, 1996 after a truck bomb exploded four days previously, killing 19 American servicemen residing there (Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Saudi Arabia's Prince and Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman al Saud (L) attend their bilateral talks at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019, on June 29, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. Vladimir Putin has arrived to Japan to partci
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 22, 2019. (HOW HWEE YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump holds a working lunch with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Oval Office at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)