To All Intents And Purposes Meaning

(idiomatic, Britain) For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking.

Example:   To all intents and purposes the case is closed.
  This treaty is to all intents and purposes no longer viable.
2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”[1], The Guardian:
  With the descent of the cold war, relations between the two countries (for this is, to all intents and purposes, what they became after the end of the war) were almost completely broken off, with whole families split for the ensuing decades, some for ever.