An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania Oana-SilviaȚoiu speaks during a joint press conference with the minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine on August 7, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
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)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping greet each other during a welcoming ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin on August 31, 2025. (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)
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
Indian army convoy carrying reinforcements and supplies, drive towards Leh, on a highway bordering China, on September 2, 2020 in Gagangir, India. (Yawar Nazir via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump listens as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on February 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong via Getty Images)