Over the next hour im going to take you on a journey that illustrates how russias 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 MinisterDavid 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 wests 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 whats happened in Eastern Ukraine may have fundamentally changed the game. Today a new cold war is brewing. Its 10 00 a. M. An atom morning autumn 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 its 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 neverbeforeseen video recently declassified by the norwegian military. It shows russias newest fighter jet the su34 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 theyll 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 thats qualitatively different from most of the cold aware period. In a speech putin gave to russias 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 russias colleagues if you compress a spring tall way to its limit at some point it will spring back hard, right . Thats 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. Theyre 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 worlds undiscovered oil and a third of its natural gas. Eight nations lay claim to this fastmelting 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 russias 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 st svalvar. Strategic base in this new arctic frontier. Im 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, dioxide, they have come upon this store of natural gas. Energy isnt 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. Its 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, its an ironic contrast to the new freeze in relations between russia and the west. A freeze thats 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 well head to pole poland where cold war mistrust runs deep and apple farmers yes, apple farmers. These people have decided that today they will be arrested i know that im being surveilled people are not getting the care that they need this is a crime against humanity hands up dont shoot hands up dont shoot what do we want . Justice when do we want it . Now they are running towards base. Explosions going off were not quite sure. Fault lines al Jazeera Americas emmy winning, investigative, documentary, series. A conflict that started 100 year ago, 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. Russian president Vladimir Putin is accusing the United States of fomenting the new cold war but its the European Union thats promising more trade sanctions if russia doesnt 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 titfortat response to russian sanctions. Russia is inflicting major pain in this farming community, an hour south of warsaw. People. In fact in 2013, poland exported sirks 77,00 677,000 tons of apples to russia. That all ended on august 1st. Theres nobody to buy those apples now and thats 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 europes biggest is fall ter fatalitiering is faltering badly. 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 record 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 . Thats prompted some russians to stock up on groceries in places like poild where price like poland where price he are cheaper. But putins hold doesnt 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 theyre 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 europes gas, roughly half of that travels through ukraine. During the 1980s moscow built a web of pliens pludge 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 theres 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 Russias 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 thats going to happen this year in poland and in other countries . Just a few more months years and well be completely independent of russia. Russia will lose out because we and others will not buy. Now were not able to do it but we will be in the immediate future. Polands deputy Prime Minister says his countrys 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 thats the problem. Energy independence doesnt 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. Its a sign perhaps of just how seriously some in europe treat the prospect of another gas disruption from moscow. And its all part of an economic war that has planted seeds of discontent from board rooms in berlin to apple orchards in poland. Polands 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 didnt 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. Lets 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 theyre watching this why must we buy your apples . We have apple orchards in america. But youre 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. Theres 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. Its 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 dont 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. Its important to keep russias 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. Youll hear when we return when we come back in just two minutes. Tomorrow. Al Jazeera America presents. This is it. Oscar winner alex gibneys edge of eighteen, thanksgiving marathon. Oh my god intense pressure. If i said that im perfectly fine, i would be lying. Tough realities. I feel so utterly alone. Life changing moments. In this envelope is my life. If you dont go to college you gonna be stuck here. I dont wanna be stuck here. Catch the whole groundbreaking series. Edge of eighteen. Thanksgiving marathon. Tomorrow. 8 00 pm eastern. Only on al Jazeera America. Start with one issue education. Gun control. The gap between rich and poor. Job creation. Climate change. Tax policy. The economy. Iran. Healthcare. Ad guests on all sides of the debate. This is a right we should all have. Its just the way it is. Theres something seriously wrong. Theres been acrimony. The conservative ideal. Its an urgent need. And a host willing to ask the tough questions how do you explain it to yourself . And youll get. The inside story ray suarez hosts inside story weekdays at 5 eastern only on al Jazeera America russias 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. Theyre 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 dont think the russian Prime Minister is a good guy, lets be clear here, we should focus instead on reform for ceafer. Kiev. Thats the foreign minister. Thirdly, the americans dont care that much. At the end of the day were talking about ukraine. Were not prepared to prop up this government economically. Were certainly not prepared to fight the russians over a noneuropean ally. And putin feels like he has an avenue to win. Hes 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 theyll invade you. They have legitimate reasons. They could planning the same thing happening there thats been happening on the ground in donetsk and luhansk, doesnt look like invasion but its 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, youve got the t to stop. Nato is not becoming stronger as a consequence of this fight, its becoming more salient but the consequences are being put very clearly on display. I was in portland, ill 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 cant find a new market. So youve 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. Its unclear how much theyre 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, thats supporting russian industry but hitting russians in the pocketbook. Thats the