bulbs, 75-mile worth of lighting. and another record for most christmas lights on a residential property. that's all of our time. i'm tony harris. "real money with ali velshi" is next on al jazeera america. >> america stands on the brink of a new cold war with russia. i adjourned ti journeyed to the, on deposits of oil and natural gas, i'll give you the firsthand look at how acialgh arctic melts fueled, new economy and an icon who hasn't ever taken his eye off russia. i'm ali velshi and this is "real money."

over the next hour i'm going to take you on a journey that illustrates how russia's confrontation with the west is spreading far beyond the ukraine. flash points like donetsk and luhansk have set off a new cold war global tensions from nato to moscow. president obama and british prime minister david cameron have warned about a frozen conflict. steven harper has been even more blunt telling putin, quote, you need to get out of ukraine. but the message has been clear. nato has been taking advantage by butting in on its new sphere of influence and russia will no longer take it. putin has vowed to protect russian people and their interests abroad.but the west's

situation with russia, has much to do with energy. as far north as the arctic circle, competing for precious natural resources and polar shipping lanes with new urgency. and yet what's happened in eastern ukraine may have fundamentally changed the game. today a new cold war is brewing. it's 10:00 a.m. an atom morningn morning in tran si transylvania. demonstrations of force like this have taken on a new urgency for the west. here, beside the car carpathian mountains in romania, just a seven hour drive from moscow.

romanians and other eastern europeans who remember russia aggression, willingness to stop an emboldened russian president vladimir putin. >> now this is a new cold war reality. now we live in a new cold war but it's a danger for real war. >> not everyone shares the former romania president's fears that russia and the u.s. are bound for armed conflict. yet an increasing presence has left no room for error. when russia launched an unusually large number of combat aircraft near nato air space. nearly 2 dozen russian bombers and fighters swooped over the north sea, the black sea, the gulf of finland and the baltic

sea. that intercept was captured here on never-before-seen video recently declassified by the norwegian military. it shows russia's newest fighter jet the su-34 which can travel more than 2500 miles carrying a payload of eight tons of precision enjoyed weapons. events like this happen more than 100 times in 2014. three times more than in 2014. -- 2013. >> essentiallily what it is is the cat and mouse game, where each side proposes the defenses of the other to see how they'll react. >> that game is putting more pressure on nato outposts like this outpost in boudah.

to be eyes and ears in the sky when it comes to russia. norway runs that operation from its military headquarters which it recently moved 600 miles north, becoming the only military headquarters inside the arctic circle. one big reason for the move to keep better tabs on russia. buried deep inside an arctic mountain, norwegian monitors track incoming bombers on monitors, an image of 1950s cold war surveillance and lately that era has come roaring back to life. brinksmanship between russia and norway has always existed. >> ukrainian crisis has pushed the russia west relationship over the cliff into something

that's qualitatively different from most of the cold aware period. >> in a speech putin gave to russia's parliament, announcing annexation of the crimea, he announced moscow would activity protect what it considers its sphere of influence. >> there was one part in which he warned russia's colleagues if you compress a spring tall way to its limit at some point it will spring back hard, right? that's the new foreign policy of russia. springing back hard against the encroachment of the west. >> gorbachev weighed in, saying all contributed to the collapse of trust between russia and the west. >> the world is on the brink of a new cold war. some are even saying that it has already begun. >> the stairk stakes of this ned

war are about more than just territory and influence. they're also about money. here on the top of the world, the battle is being fought over energy. the arctic is home to 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and a third of its natural gas. eight nations lay claim to this fast-melting landscape including russia, canada an the united states. they along with china are pursuing huge reserves of oil gas and coal. >> subarctic if they are to stay powerful they need more hydrocarbons to come out of the arctic. >> in 2007 russia formally staked its claims to billion approximatelies of dollars of arctic oil deposits. under the north pole. canada and the u.s. scoffed

comparing russia's play to a 15th century land grab. if but the move underscores the growing importance of the region. to get a firsthand look i headed north, way north to the northern most town in the world, on an island in the high arctic called stsvalvar. strategic base in this new arctic frontier. >> i'm here in norway, much closer to the north pole than oslo and this is for polar bears. they are looking for a place to put the co2 emissions, the carbon diesmed, tha diesmed, die upon this store of natural gas.

>> energy isn't the only factor in the battle for the high north. it is is also about who controls the high seas which are increasingly accessible because of global warming. new shipping lanes creating by the melting of ice in the arctic could save a lot of money. for example a cargo ship traveling between western europe and asia typically sails through the suez canal. coming this way shortens that travel by 40%. what russia needs now are arctic ports and lines of communication. it's a big reason why moscow recently unveiled an ambitious plan to build at least 13 new base and soviet outposts across the arctic. >> it would be trily beneficial for russia strategically in the sense that russia would control a key shipping artery for the global economy.

>> spalbard which is under norwegian control provides. >> polar sea then of course we are placed in the center of that. >> driving down one of its only two roads, longyerbian has the look and feel of an alpine shipping resort. 59% of the ice has melted away since 1979. melting ice this the arctic, it's an ironic contrast to the new freeze in relations between russia and the west. a freeze that's steadily putting old cold warren miss on a path towards a new round of battles whose end game is less about ideology and more about economic control and financial supremacy.

in just two minutes we'll head to pole poland where cold war mistrust runs deep and apple farmers -- yes, apple farmers. hit me up at facebook.com @alivelshi. touch your life. >> i'm back. i'm not going anywhere this time. >> only on al jazeera america.

>> russian president vladimir putin is accusing the united states of fomenting the new cold war but it's the european union that's promising more trade

sanctions if russia doesn't back off in the ukraine. doing damage from moscow to warsaw to berlin and the weapons are not limited to war planes or rocket launchers. everything people depend on to live, everything from oil to apples. >> these polish panel farmers, sparked by the real war in ukraine. polish apples became a casualty after moscow slammed the door on most agricultural imports from the european union. a tit-for-tat response to russian sanctions. russia is inflicting major pain in this farming community, an hour south of warsaw. poles love these but so do other people. in fact in 2013, poland exported

sirks 77,00677,000 tons of applo russia. that all ended on august 1st. there's nobody to buy those apples now and that's going to cost polish pane apple growers 9 million this year. for apple grower mikhail lehovich the situation is dire. 40% of the apples he grows are shipped to russia. his life is in jeopardy. >> now our market is panic. >> and that panic is a symbol of much greater fear over the continent. the conflict over ukraine and sanctions that followed have dealt europe another blow. nowhere is the fear greater than germany whose economy europe's

biggest is fall ter fatalitieri. grappling with the fallout from ukraine. on the other side of the situation, lower oil prices put the country on the brink of rescission. the renewabl ruble plunged to rd lows, more than double the amount they took out the year before. and since sanctions hit, food prices in russia have soared. in some cases by as much as 30%. that's prompted some russians to stock up on groceries in places like poild where pricelike polae

cheaper. but putin's hold doesn't seem to be threatened. >> consolidate support for president putin not only among the population but crucially among the elites and oligarchs and tycoons around him. where their access to western capital is limited they're more dependent on the kremlin. >> putin holds control over oil and gas, largely spared at least in the short term from western sanctions. the big reason is russia supplies about a quarter of europe's gas, roughly half of that travels through ukraine. during the 1980s moscow built a web of plien pludges pipelines.

that means europe is vulnerable if russia turns off the spigot like it did earlier this summer. temporarily loud russian gas to keep flowing. >> eastern ukraine there's fighting there, there could be sabotage against the pipeline, there could be other problems like that happening. and there are basic guarantees against that. >> back in the front lines in poland, restaurant owner lucio bacci says another blockade. good. >> a big problem a very big problem in this moment economy will go down. >> in a bold attempt to fix that problem poland is taking this

most aggressive action of any european country to free itself of russia's energy dominance. poland expects a liquified natural gas terminal to be built by 2015. half the natural gas will come into the terminal by ship. on a remote polish island called schwiniwuska, turning off gas supplies to ukraine in 2006 and 2009 which affected supplies to several eu countries. i sat down to discuss it with former polish president and cold war icon lech walesa.

>> flow a little bit less. do you think that's going to happen this year in poland and in other countries? >> just a few more months years and we'll be completely independent of russia. russia will lose out because we and others will not buy. now we're not able to do it but we will be in the immediate future. >> poland's deputy prime minister says his country's resources depend on reliable energy. >> the future belongs to energy and one of the foundations is going to be access to your own source of energy and the cheapest energy. those cheap prices are needed by both residents and businesses particularly for businesses that require a lot of energy. >> but that's the problem. energy independence doesn't come cheap. gas deals negotiated with qatar are expected to cost at least a third more than what the poles

currently buy from russia in part because of the distance the gas has to be shipped. and yet, the project moving forward anyway. it's a sign perhaps of just how seriously some in europe treat the prospect of another gas disruption from moscow. and it's all part of an economic war that has planted seeds of discontent from board rooms in berlin to apple orchards in poland. poland's ambassador to the united states believes vladimir putin will eventually pay a price for his actions but as you saw from our report, poland is paying a hefty price right now. i sat down with polish ambassador to the united states richard schnapp. >> when we talk about ambassadors, this is serious diplomatic conversation and i didn't know how exciting it would be and then i saw a video of you on youtube trying to convince americans to buy these delicious polish apples that i

had. let's watch the video that i have. >> this basket should be full. full of fresh delicious polish apples. unfortunately the american market is closed to polish fresh fruits. dear american friends. please join me in asking the u.s. government to open the doors for our freedom apples. >> we suffered of course from the sanctions being one of the biggest exports to russia, of apples but also vegetables. poland is looking for new markets. we are lucky to find new areas for our export but the united states market is one of the most demanding, but at the same time, the biggest. >> and someone might say as they're watching this why must we buy your apples? we have apple orchards in america. but you're right there. it cost you to take this hard line and why is poland putting

itself on the line with respect to russian? they are a member of nato. there's no real fear is there amongst poles that russia will try ointerfere in poland? >> well our history is such that you can never be sure. so we took the things in our hands. first of all, we are the process of modernization of the polish armed forces. it's a project practically going online which is the next ten years, we are purchasing the most contemporary technology, we are not probably the first target for the russians. but the situation in ukraine puts us in a worried situation. we might expenditure some pressure from russian side.

actually we don't know what might happen. probably it would be worth a noble price if somebody can detect what are the plans of mr. putin. so we have to be prepared for different scenario. even the worst one. we are a member of nato as you said, but we want to be sure that the article 5 of nato treaty would work in the situation that something happens not necessarily in poland, i would say the baltic cungs are much more exposed than poland. but we want to know that other countries members of nato countries would react properly so there are certain decisions taken during the recent september nato summit. we were quite happy about it. now this is time for implementation of those new initiatives that would put more allied forces on our territory,

more exercise, more drilling, and also the storage places not to facing the situation that if something happens it would take a month or two or even more to react. >> it's important to keep russia's perspective in this cold war. russia is described as a coiled spring, push it too much and it snaps back. interfered and encroached on areas that should be left alone. the new cold war, the west is in a test of wills with russia but isolating russia can be a dangers are move it could back fire. you'll hear when we return when we come back in just two minutes. some say, never ended... revealing... untold stories of the valor... >> they opened fire on the english officers... >> sacrifice...

>> i order you to die... >> and ultimate betrayal... drawing lines in the sand that would shape the middle east and frame the conflict today >> world war one: through arab eyes only on al jazeera america

>> sunday. a remarkable quest continues. marco polo's journey of discovery takes him east, for a historic meeting with kubli kahn, leader of the mongolian empire. relive this epic odyssey. people encountered. discoveries made. and now, questions answered. al jazeera america presents "marco polo: a very modern journey". the series continues. sunday. 9:00 eastern. >> russia's interference in ukraine has been the catalyst

for this new cold war. the nato states, arctic circle and beyond. i talked about the recent situation with ian bremmer. he compared this cold war with the last one. >> they're doing a lot of business with the russians, it really matters. number 2, the europeans are not with us as much as we would like. earlier today, the european foreign minister, after tall escalation with moscow, i don't think the russian prime minister is a good guy, let's be clear here, we should focus instead on reform for ceafer. kiev. that's the foreign minister. thirdly, the americans don't care that much. at the end of the day we're talking about ukraine.

we're not prepared to prop up this government economically. we're certainly not prepared to fight the russians over a noneuropean ally. and putin feels like he has an avenue to win. he's been escalated. >> i just came back from these eastern european countries where rightly or wrongly they do care. the west is not stepping foot in milmilitarily. the people in poland are worried, rightly or wrongly. the latvian, the lithuanians, you turn your eye your back on russia they'll invade you. >> they have legitimate reasons. they could planning the same thing happening there that's been happening on the ground in donetsk and luhansk, doesn't look like invasion but it's creeping trouble and suddenly you have instability. having said that the vizigrad states, hungary, czechoslovakia,

our economy is on the back foot, we need the gas, we need the trade, you've got the t to stop. nato is not becoming stronger as a consequence of this fight, it's becoming more salient but the consequences are being put very clearly on display. >> i was in portland, i'll have this story at the end of the week where they get this particularly type of apple, 60% of that gets sold to russia, these folks can't find a new market. so you've got these russian enclaves in estonia, in latvia in poland, they seem to like this whole mother russia extending its arm of protection around them. >> it's unclear how much they're

going to like it in the long run. but they outlast the ukrainians. it was about the same level of support as you see for putin itself in the mid '80s. food inflation is hitting right now, that's supporting russian industry but hitting russians in the pocketbook. that's the same russians who benefited oil price going from 14 to 20 before they sank back in the high 70s. these russians overwhelmingly feel they have done better over putin than they did before and now he's giving some of it back. you definitely meet elites who say he has gone so far, broken the relationship with ms. merkel in germany but on balance they're with him. and unfortunately for all of the economic damage that's being caused from the sanctions and of course initially from the russian congregation in this region, you are just -- russian

aggression in this region, you're just not going to do this mr. putin. >> he said as a matter of policy russia will extend protection into its spheres of influence. does that mean anything of importance? because people were comparing russia going into crimea into to the germ man's extending their influence over neighboring countries. >> it is hard to imagine the americans tolerating the kind of international interference in america's backyard from a country like russia, country like china which the russians now feel like is being rested upon them in ukraine, ukraine is absolutely the single most important foreign policy interest that the russians have. in terms of historical influence and legitimacy in terms of the bases in crimea, in terms of the military industrial complex and supply chain in southeast

ukraine. having said that ukraine is a sovereign state and the russians have effectively invaded it. over the last several months you've seen 80% of the american and european efforts looking at punishing the russians. if you ask me those percentages are exactly backwards. you should have been focused much more on what you can do to help kiev and we are fighting the russians to the every last ukrainian. good i'm going to get in trouble by someone for saying this but if you had a strong acceptable government in syria and iraq, you wouldn't have russia doing what it's doing now. if ukraine was a stronger more organized better run economy you wouldn't have had this or would you have? >> not clear to me. you could at least have a pathway for the rest of ukraine

to eventually being democratic, engaged in the european union even over time potentially joining nato. >> when you compare ukraine the all those other countries, compared to a lot of these ex soviet have done better than ukraine has. >> ukraine wanted to engage with the europeans even under former ouousted president yanukovych. so that's the issue. ukraine is the ugly stepchild. nobody's really interested in it. now we say that we're supporting them. we've got a #diploma #diplomacy. with all of the visits the cia director the various secretaries going over the european heads of state inviting them to the nato

summit, the ukrainian president could be forgiven that he could actually win, that he could defeat the russians militarily in his backyard. that was never going to happen. and that unfortunately is the mistake of the policy we have to live with. >> up next, russia's influence extends far and wide. let russia wield significant power beyond its borders.

." >> like it are onot, the crisis in ukraine is pushing america and the west into a new cold war with russia. in crimea, the peninsula russia seized from ukraine last summer, ukrainian banks have shut their doors in that region.

nearly $2 billion in loans have gone delinquent and russia had to compensate nearly 200,000 depositors who have been cut off from their accounts. crucially many ethnic russians blame the west for their economic woes not russia. in fact as the new cold war unfolds the west will need to contended with the soft power that moscow wields beyond its borders. its influence is felt in countries with sizable russian minorities or historic ties to russia. they include estonia latvia and bulgaria. soviet styled monuments are everywhere. in russay, bulgaria's fifth largest cemetery, a glimpse into shared legacy with moscow. in fact ties to eastern europe,

a diaspora of russian speakers who have spread out over the region for centuries. liking ukraine, some feel an emboldened vladimir putin could use pro-russian groups in eastern europe to further destabilize the region. it's in enclaves like these where putin wields an outsized influence. >> translator: my personal opinion is that russia has started to get involved in ukraine only to help, without intentionally trying to pretty what happened in crimea. >> andrea is like many in ukraine that don't blame russia. >> translator: in my opinion the west won the cold war.

and has since been trying to put russia in the corner. >> russia in the 1990s was a very weap weak and in many rments humiliated country and was not able to project force, was not able to defend its interests as as it saw them at the time. so when large numbers of former soviet satellites joined nato or the eu the russians viewed this as a slight. >> and yet despite those memberships russia's roots run deep across eastern europe. russian speakers make up more than a third of the population. they account for a quarter of the people in estonia where riots erupted in 2007 when the government relocated a famous statue of a russian soldier. >> russia is already there. it's soft power people secret

services, businesses media. so if you try deal with russia sort of half hearted sort of buffer zone russia wins because russia is there. these people used to be part of ussr. >> but are few places eastern europe's split loyalties more obvious than bulgaria. bulgaria's eu membership actually gives russia a voice in brussels. after nearly half of the a century as part of the soviet led eastern block bulgaria is often considered moscow's most pliable ally. >> bulgaria has been called the trojan horse of russia. >> here, sentiment over russia is deeply divided even in top echelons of government. natural gas pipeline called south stream, when finished it will bypass ukraine and provide

europe another outlet for russia gas. but bulgaria has virtually all of its natural gas needs met by russia gas giant gazprom and the country's coalition government is under heavy pressure to finish this controversial pipeline. >> bulgaria has some well specific historical very strong link with russia. the slavic people and the reluctance, the rejection of russia was never that strong in bulgaria. >> here in poland that kind of ambiguity towards moscow is alarming particularly in the wake of the ukraine crisis. many poles see the creme lynn's new policy towards its eastern block as particularly dangerous. those fears are evident here in this dank gadansk shipyard.

russia feels it has the right to protect ethnic russians in other communities. they think russia's incursion into ukraine may be part of a broader muscle flexing and against other poles who know how well how it is to live under russia's shadow. >> translator: a little scared that the conflict with russia will escalate. i'm just keeping my fingers crossed for peace. >> anandrek remembers communism and proposes stronger action he against russia despite the economic ties between the two nations. >> translator: i think sanctions are right. they must see what they are doing is wrong. >> in 1990 these were the borders of the soviet union and

its eastern block. two decades later those lines had been redrawn moving nato far closer to russia's borders and yet ha that hasn't wiped russias influence from the region. the new europe that former u.s. defense secretary donald rumsfeld once proclaimed seems as divided as the old one. the only difference is russia seems willing to throw its weight around, in places where it still wields power. >> up next, the new cold war continues as i go man on man with the person who helped end soviet dominance, answers two minutes away.

o. >> feu countries are more suspicious of russia's actions

than poland. in 1980 a new independent trade union called solidarity led protests that challenged poland's communist regime. by 1990 poland was able to transition to democracy and pivot itself towards the u.s. and nato. a quarter century later, former polish president lech walesa says, his country is on the borderline with another cold war with moscow. rchg 1980 a young electrician climbed this gate and rallied the 17,000 striking workers who had barricaded themselves here in the gadansk shipyards. the solidarity movement was born. poland's solidarity movement exposed poland's first contraction in europe, and that young leader was lech walesa,

galvanizing support which brought poland's communist government to the negotiating table. ten years later, walesa went on to become poland's first popularly elected president and presided over his country's transition to a postcommunist state. but today, as the crisis unfolds in neighboring ukraine the poles are again feeling pressure from moscow. i sat down with the man who was there from the beginning. a quarter-century after his historic election, lech walesa again has his eye on russia. >> thank you so much for speaking to us. you've been speaking so much about what is happening in ukraine with russia. and poland has been very strong in saying that the west has got to resist what russia is doing. now, in the world, many people think the worst is over, the worst is behind us. but here in poland, people are

still worried about russia being expansionist and wanting more. what are your thoughts? >> my grade grandfather, my -- my great grandfather, any grandfather and my father always says, there is no free poland, they know it is dangerous when ukraine is not free. so the question nowadays is how many bruises will we get from a russia that is still 30 years hinder us? how many problems will we still have? there are no chances for russia to win in this because you can't nowadays use tanks and force to solve such problems. if we were in toll dater, if we work together, if we defend the peace together the quicker russia will understand it. >> you said russians are good people who have bad luck with their leaders. what do you think of vladimir

putin? >> well, i refer to putin among others. but russia when you look at its history has always needed an external enemy. they are not able to rule their company without an enemy. these were the people from chen chechiachechnya, the poles. this is the philosophy and it has to be changed. and this is not the right time for such philosophy. and we are not able to afford such losses. and rule through enemy. and russia has to change its philosophy of that necessary enemy. >> you remember a time when even in poland there was not a free press. russia has that situation right now. vladimir putin is very popular in russia for his action he becaussbecause it seems the peol

he is defending russia and greater russia. do you think he would have more support? >> definitely. the support he gets nowadays is smaller but russia may like it in a certain way. the additional problem for russia is that they used to be a superpower as ussr. they lost that position and now only superpower is the u.s.a. but i also refer to weapons, to the economy, to the moral and social and economic issues as well. they are not the leaders. that is why it is hard for russia to be as important as they used to be. so they need successes. they need to show their power by threatening. they also have to understand the world. that it is not boorishness, not tanks. but intellect and wisdom are the elements of the contemporary world. >> lech walesa added that he

believed russian president vladimir putin underestimated the west's willingness to defend ukraine. now, as putin figures out how to untangle himself from the mess he created. okay, up next, forgot politics. oil makes strange bed fellows. i'll take you to the far north where untapped riches are making unlikely friends. our special, the new cold war, is back after this. >> protestors are gathering... >> there's an air of tension right now... >> the crowd chanting for democracy... >> this is another significant development... >> we have an exclusive story tonight, and we go live...

>> good evening, i'm michael eaves in new york. coming up right after "real money." bomb blasts at a mosque takes dozens of lives. ray rice is free fen afte againr being seen punching his wife on video. coming up right after "real money."

>> tomorrow. al jazeera america presents. >> this is it. >> oscar winner alex gibney's "edge of eighteen", thanksgiving marathon. >> oh my god! >> intense pressure. >> if i said that i'm perfectly fine, i would be lying. >> tough realities. >> i feel so utterly alone. >> life changing moments. >> in this envelope is my life. >> if you don't go to college you gonna be stuck here... i don't wanna be stuck here. >> catch the whole ground-breaking series. "edge of eighteen". thanksgiving marathon. tomorrow. 8:00 pm eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> high tensions over ukraine has kicked off a new era for russia. 2,000 miles north of ukraine a new battle ground is being forged in the frozen north. countries like russia and its new found partner china are competing in the west, to compete for shipping lanes and 13% of the world's undiscovered

oil, 30% of its natural gas. melting polar ice caps are unlock new access to this region and the trick is to be there before the ice is gone. three factors matter most in both real estate and geopolitics. location, location, location. and for those interested in waterfront property, with breathtaking views, plenty of wildlife, and the potential for future riches, this island could be a hidden gem. up here in the high norwegian arctic, it seems like there's nothing but land, but very little is for sale, save for aparcel on a mountain across the bay behind me, you can't even see it for all the snow and fog. what's interesting is a chinese businessman wants to buy this land. there is very little economic value in owning land up here today but one wonders if it's of

greater strategic value. local officials say chinese real estate tycoon huong nubo, more than 1200 miles north of oslo and halfway between the north pole and norway. over the next three years huong, one of china's richest men, says he plans to put in additional bids for land across scandanavia, his company did not respond to inquiries about his interest in sma svalbard. arctic ambitions on their land. melting arctic ice is unlocking shipping root are routes and potentially being stores of oil and gas. >> any kind of discussion about a potential way of getting your

foot into the arctic it's interesting for a lot of states and we see that here especially and we've seen it especially in these discussions. >> reflecting local sentiment a prominent norwegian newspaper recently published a piece that called huong a, tensions ramp up between russia and the west an old soviet outpost called berentsberg is also drawing russian taken. we headed there by railway of the berent sea because there are no roads that connect. here in this russian coal settlement, the hallmarks of a bygone soviet era are everywhere. >> our goal is communism here.

of course our goal is not communism today. just a memory for the spirit of russia. >> but like those old soviet days, this settlement still receives supplies and food imports from moscow. that's despite the fact that the amount of coal produced here has declined dramatically over the years. but that doesn't mean berentsberg isn't valuable. >> the soviet kind of demographic policy has put settlements that are difficult to sustain. but if those settlements can acquire a strategic significance, so much the better from russia's perspective. >> with 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and a third of its natural gas located in the arctic, many here in svalbard think russia is holding onto

berentsberg just to hold open its options. >> the being here is very important to them. >> that means supporting legacy settlements even if only a few people live there. >> if there's a settlement that from russia's perspective can be kind of a flag in the slow then that's absolutely something the kremlin would seek to exploit. >> only about a small settlement of 400 russians are left. local officials feared fist fights over ukraine could break out between russians and ukrainians deep inside these mines. >> it's difficult for me because my parents stay there, in ukraine. that's why it's very difficult. >> this new cold war is putting strains on individuals like constantine, who came to

berentsberg after he learned co-make four times as much as in ukraine. a frigid region is shaping up as the next battle ground in the new cold war. it's not only china and russian vying for a place in the arctic, norway, the united states, and china. when money and energy are involved high tensions often follow. that makes what happens in ukraine and the fallout between russia and the west so important. in the harsh conditions that exist inside the melting arctic circle cooperation among all nations is sorely needed. but cooperation seems as remote as the arctic itself. thank you for joining me for had special report, the new cold war. we'll continue to monitor the situation and report on what the relations between russia, the

united states and nato mean for the situation in the world. i'm ali velshi, thank you for joining us. good evening, this is al jazeera america, i'm michael eaves, john siegenthaler is off. easing tensions, a much calmer scene in ferguson, missouri, protestors find new ways to get their message across. oil bust. crude oil price take a nose