2023 Ukraine Crisis: Has the "Great Game" between the West and China already begun?

Historians and geopolitical experts usually seek major shifts to understand and explain the developments in the world, believing they will find answers in any major military-political development. The shifts in the last century included a number of major events, each of which was considered a "milestone" towards a new phase in international relations. 
Maybe the most prominent of all the events were the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on the United States of America, which constituted the first foreign attack on US soil since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (US port on Hawaii's island of Oahu). The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with major human losses, followed. However, they did not inform the geopolitical situation in the world in the 21st century, which remained the same as we knew it since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early nineties of the 20th century- dominance of the West in the decision making processes at the global level, despite the Russian and Chinese opposition to certain issues. Namely, it was only limited opposition, as seen in the case of the war in Iraq. 
It seems that the Russia-Ukraine war or the "Ukraine Crisis" is the development which in its deepest sense has an attribute of a "milestone" because of the political, economic, diplomatic and military repercussions it will have in the future. After almost 17 months since the outbreak of the war, some parameters that could have a major effect on the future mainstream in international relations are starting to emerge. Most important of these parameters include:

1. Maybe the most notable fact that is a result of this war is the failure of the West to stop Russia through diplomatic and military pressures. This is something that is...