In this roundtable, panellists will consider the effect of Russia’s war against Ukraine on relations between and among China, Russia and EU and NATO states. Some of the problems and their implications are already evident and have been described in different ways, including as being about: authoritarian states versus democracies; New Cold War divisions; multilateralism versus multipolarity; rising versus declining states. None of these descriptions has quite captured the state and scope of the relations, however, and each runs the risk of analysis that leads to policymakers reaching for redundant tools and toolboxes. In a nuanced discussion, therefore, the speakers on this roundtable will consider the state of analysis to date with a view to evaluating the merits of these and other categories of description. In doing so, panellists will consider whether and to what extent analysis exaggerates or obscures difference and similarity among the states and relations concerned, and the impacts of that on behaviour and policy. In a final part, the views of states outside this triangle are considered with a view to identifying ways forward for actors and relations within the triangle. While very much a forward-looking discussion, historical legacy will inevitably form part of the conversation and panellists will therefore additionally be asked to consider the extent to which international relations today remain rooted in pre-1991 dynamics and the extent to which relations have broken free of them.

(This is one of three "What Now" roundtables convened in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and its war, whether by extension or proxy, against the West, with consequential and wide-ranging implications for international relations.)