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)
Coup supporters wave flags during the protest against a possible military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States bloc and sanctions in Niamey, Niger, on August 20, 2023. (Balima Boureima/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a joint news conference following trilateral talks on August 18, 2023, in Camp David, Maryland. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A window of an apartment lies broken as result of Russian missile strike on August 15, 2023, in Lviv, Ukraine. (Mykola Tys/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Gen. Joseph Votel (center), then commander of US Central Command, standing with senior US and Egyptian officers during a visit to Exercise Bright Star 2018 at Mohamed Naguib Military Base, Egypt, on September 9, 2018. (US Army photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Keeler)
Iranian soldiers march during the annual military parade marking the anniversary of the war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the capital Tehran on September 22, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol greet each other ahead of a trilateral meeting during the G7 leaders' summit in Hiroshima on May 21, 2023. (Brendan Smiakiwski/AFP via Getty Images)
Supporters of Niger's National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) gather for a demonstration in Niamey on August 11, 2023. (AFP via Getty Images)