On 2nd June 2008, Sir Roderic Lyne KBE, CMG, delivered a comprehensive and wide-ranging analysis of our relationship with Russia, in which he concluded that we have no choice but to continue to deal realistially with Russia, as we do with China, for example, but that time must be factored into our thinking – it should not be forgotten that barely half a generation has passed since Russians experienced ‘the most sudden and dramatic upheavals to affect any large nation in peace time in the modern era and it is going to take much longer than half a generation for that country to settle into its new pattern.’