Is the war in Ukraine creating a new world order?

Russian President Vladimir Putinand Chinese President Xi Jinping talk during a meeting in Beijing, on 4 February, 2022. AP - Alexei Druzhinin

Cold War alliances are being strengthened while the classic foes of the "free West" are forging stronger links at a moment when France is exiting the helm of the EU.

"It is unwise to take an adversarial position to two adversaries in a way that drives them together," according to the world's most experienced diplomat, Henry Kissinger, speaking about relations between the West, China and Russia, during an interview with the Financial Times on 7 May, just weeks before his 99th birthday.