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)
Clashes erupt between Georgian police and protesters on the second day of protest against "foreign agents" bill, in Tblisi, Geogia on March 08, 2023 (David Mdzinarishvili via Getty Images)
Iran Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers' Meeting on June 26, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Fu Tian via Getty Images)
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, National Leader and Chairman of the People’s Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev meet at a high-level trilateral summit in the Awaza National Tourism Zone of Turkmenistan on August 22, 2025. (Getty Images)
China’s President Xi Jinping, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin arrive for a reception in the Great Hall of the People following a military parade in Beijing on September 3, 2025. (Getty Images)
A soldier from the 47th Brigade's mortar crew, Varvara with the call sign 'Kosa', aims a mortar for firing on August 12, 2025 in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. (Vitalii Nosach via Getty Images)
Chinese honor guards participate in a welcome ceremony in Tianjin, China, on August 31, 2025, as Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. (Vladimir Smirnov via Getty Images)