The domestic and foreign policies of the United States will both return to the pragmatic tradition, partly because of the diverse nature of the country. At the same time, pragmatic diplomacy in a pluralistic world will improve international relations.

No matter how things go on the battlefield, Russia seems to have lost politically, economically and diplomatically. While the strategic center of gravity has shifted, Russia remains obsessed with territorial expansion and control of natural resources.

China has remained relatively quiet on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to the annoyance of the West. There may be several explanations for Beijing’s aloofness.

China’s close strategic ties to Russia make it hard to come out in full-throated condemnation of the violence in Ukraine along with much of the world. Yet there are actionable methods that China can use to try and help save lives of innocent citizens.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict undermines the prospects for prosperity and security around the world — and that includes China, whose economic development recent years had depended upon a stable external strategic environment.

Fast-moving events are forcing the United States to adopt a more cooperative posture toward China, whose help it needs to meet the expectations of the international community. Cooperation has assumed increasing real-world importance.

The crisis in Ukraine grows worse as fighting rages on in what is sure to be one of this decade’s defining episodes. Whatever the outcome is, the result will drastically shift the landscape of the international community.

China’s response to Russia’s war against Ukraine has been heavily scrutinized and criticized. While Chinese officials have expressed concern about civilian casualties, they have declined to condemn the attack, which they regard as a response to NATO expansion, and they have declared that they will not join the West in imposing financial sanctions on Russia. Yet China has hardly given full-throated support to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The question is whether this relatively neutral stance by China could prove crucial to preventing further dangerous military escalation.

History’s turning points are rarely evident with great clarity. But the February 4 joint statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping as the Winter Olympics opened in Beijing may be an exception – signaling a new turning point in a new Cold War.

The winners and losers of the last year tell a story of turbulence and change in a year that saw the world make it through 12 more months of global pandemic and simmering geopolitical tensions, without resolving either issue.