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)
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during the opening ceremony of the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2021" at the Patriot Park on August 23, 2021 in Kubinka, Russia. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks during the plenary session of the 30th Congress of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) on December 17, 2021 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
The warship formations of China and Russia sail through the Tsugaru Strait during the naval exercise Joint Sea-2021 on October 18, 2021 in the Western part of the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Sun Zifa/China News Service via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the United Russia Party Congress, on August 24, 2021 in Moscow, Russia. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania. (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian nuclear missile rolls along Red Square during the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of Nazi defeat, on June 24, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)