among the tributes, one from willy nelson is. >> i'm "ali velshi on target" tonight, america's new cold war with russia. i take you to the frozen north where america's allies are lacked in a huge standoff over deposits of oil and gas. i'll give you a firsthand look at how arctic melting has fueled old tensions between enemies. all week long al jazeera america is showcasing a selection of your stories. they are some of the most important news events we've

covered on this channel for you and one of them has been the new cold war between russia and the west. the tensions now extend from the battlefields of syria to the sea lanes of the arctic but the bad blood started in 2014 with the war in ukraine. two years on russia still backs separatist rebels fighting the ukraine government. tonight i'm taking you on the front line with russia, poland, roe romania, bulgaria, and competing for special natural resources with new urgency. let's again the journey now with a special report. it's 10 a.m. on an autumn morning in stran tran sylvania. it is a routine nato exercise in military readiness. >> one minute! >> but demonstrations of force

like this have taken on a influence urgency for the west. here beside the carpathian mountains in romania these soldiers are training for battle. just a seven hour drive from ukraine where russian backed separatists set off the worst confrontation between moscow and the west since the end of the cold war. roe romanians and others who worry about past aggressions, worried about stopping an emboldened vladimir putin. >> cold war is a reality, now we live in a new cold war but it's a danger for the real war. >> not everyone slairs the shares the former romanian president's fears that u.s. and the russian he are bound for conflict but little room for error.

in october, nato scrambled tozs dozens of f-16s. when russian launched aircraft near nato air space. swooping over the tort 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 the su 34, which can travel more than 2500 miles carrying a payload of eight tons of precision guided weapons. eerchlts like this happen more than 100 -- events like this happen more than 100 times in 2014, three times more than in 2013. >> essentially what it is is the cat and mouse game at a was played during the original cold war where each side probes the defenses of the other in order

to see how they'll react. >> that game is putting more pressure on nato outposts like this outpost in buda where nor norwegian forces recently cooperated with their russian neighbors. nato uses its command center and f-16s to be eyes and ears in the sky whether it comes to russia. norway runs that operation from its military headquarters which it recently moved 600 miles north to buda, only country with a military headquarters inside arctic circle. one reason, to keep tabs on russia. very deep inside an arctic mountain, nor weej answe norwegians, track, on

an era that has come back to life. brinksmanship has's existed between nato and russia. but redefining be moscow's relationship with the west. >> pushing the russia-west relationship over the cliff and qualitatively different from most of the cold war period. >> in a speech that putin gave to russia parliament announcing the annexation of crimea, he outlined a new purpose for russia. >> there was one part in which he warned russia's western colleague if you compress a spring all the way to its limit at some point it will spring back hard. that's the new foreign policy of russia. it's springing back against perceived slights and encroachments by the west. in november

former soviet president mick highly gorbachev gorbachev weighed in. >> the stakes of this new cold war are about more than just territory and influence. they are 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 and the united states. they, alongside china, are all pursuing huge reserves of oil, gas and coal. >> reporter: russia's resurgence has been fueled by hydrocarbons that come from the

subarctic and if they are to stay powerful they need more from the arctic. russia staked its claim to billions in oil and gas deposits. planting a russian flag on the ocean floor under the north poll. canada and the u.s. scoffed, the move uerscores 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 spalvar. many facings including russia are eyeing this once sleepy coal mining settlement as a strategic base in this arctic frontier. i'm here in norway, much closer to the north pole than to oslo. this is frequented by polar

bares. are bears. they were trying to find a reservoir to put it underground and they came upon natural gas. finds like these have whet the appetites of energy prospectors. it is about who controls the high seas. which are increasingly accessible because of global warming. new shipping lanes created 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 suez canal. this root shortens by 30%. 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 13 new bases and radar stations in former soviet outposts across the arctic. >> it would be tremendously beneficial for russia strategically in the sense russia would control a key shipping artery for the global economy. >> spalbard, under norwegian control, increasingly interested in the high north. >> that's because of the placement that we have with more activity in the polish sea and we're placed in the officer of that. >> driving down one o of only two roads, it's become a key living center and research, where 50% of the ice has melted away since 1979. melting ice in the arctic.

a freeze that's steadily putting old cold warren miss on a path to new battles whose end game is less about ideology and more about economic control and financial supremacy. russia has more than a large military to throw its weight around in the world. coming up, russia's soft power in the era of the new cold war. >> people out here are struggling and just trying to get by with whatever they can. >> al jazeera america - proud of telling your stories. >> somebody to care about us man... >> we're live in ferguson, missouri. >> brick by brick, i will open it. it will take more than a few rocks to stop me from doin' what i have to do. >> suddenly heroin seems to be everywhere. >> there's no way i am willing to give up my family for a drug ever again. >> i know you all have strong opinions about the border. >> i don't believe in borders. >> our government is allowing an invasion. >> i don't really know as much

as i thought i did. >> people don't just need protection, they need assistance. >> what's your message then? >> we need help now. >> oh my god... the town's out of water. >> we came up here to talk to some people who are selling fresh water... fresh water for fracking. >> we are a town that greed destroyed. >> what do we want? >> justice! >> these people have decided that today they will be arrested. >> i wanted to dance, and eventually i started leaving the gangs in the street alone. >> we're pushing the envelope with out science every day, we can save species. >> i'm walking you guys! >> all i wanted to see was her walk. it was amazing. >> these were emotions that i had been dreaming about for so long. >> getting to the heart of the matter. proud to tell your stories. al jazeera america.

>> a huge challee facing countries if eastern europe is how they define their relationship with russia. after the soviet union collapsed large numbers of ethnic russians ended up living outside russia's borders but inside countries that have since joined the faighnatoalliance. as a result the u.s. has to

contest with the soft power. of states like estonia and bulgaria. this is the style of soviet styled monuments everywhere. cemeteries honoring red army soldiers offer a glimpse of into moscow. in fact, russia has ties to nearly every part of eastern europe. thanks to energy economics and a die as bra pra of russian pradiaspora of russian speakers, vladimir putin could use pro-russia groups to destabilize the region. it is in enclaves like these where putin wields an un

be even influence. >> translator: without any intention of what happened in crimea. >> adrian vasalev is like many in bul gair bulgaria who oppose sanctions on 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 weak and in many respects humiliated country that was not able to project force. was not able to defend its interests as it saw them at the time. so when large numbers of former soviet satellites joined nato or joined the eu, the russians viewed this as a slight. >> today, sentiment here over

russia is deeply divided even at the top echelons of government. here in poland, that kind of ambiguity towards moscow is alarming particularly in the wake of the ukraine crisis. many poles who are under the cloak of soviet control sees the kremlis new policy towards the old eastern block as particularly dangerous. those feelings are evident, where in this gadansk shipyard. russia believes it has the right to protect ethnic russian communities. they think that russia's incursion into ukraine may be a part of a broader muscle-flexing and those feelings run particularly high against older poles who know all too well what it's like to live under russia's shadow.

>> translator: a little scared that the conflict with russia will escalate. keeping my fingers crossed for peace. >> the former be secretary donald rumsfeld , rudd isn't the onlrussia isn'tthe only power

>> pushing the boundaries of science. >> we are on the tipping point. >> we can save species. >> it's the biggest question out there. >> it's a revolutionary approach. >> we are pushing the boundaries. >> techknow is going to blow your mind. >> our experts go inside the innovations, impacting you. >> this is the first time anybody's done this. >> i really feel my life changing. >> techknow, where technology meets humanity. only on al jazeera america. >> coming up tonight, we'll have the latest... >> does the government give you refugee status? >> they've marched to the border. >> thousands have taken to the streets here in protest.

>> this is where gangs bury their members. >> they're tracking climate change.

>> we can save species. >> macaw are at risk of dissappearing in the wild. >> we are on the tipping point of an ecological disaster.

>> radiocarbon dating method can tell us if trade of ivory is legal. >> gold, we have come at the price of human rights, pristine forests, and clean water. >> the future of fracking is about the water. >> how do you convince a big oil company to use this? >> al jazeera is always pushing the boundaries of reporting and techknow really falls into that perfectly. >> this is the biggest question out there. >> we always get perfect plants every time. >> this opens up whole new possibilities. >> we have 300,000 kids that are in collapse prone schools. >> katrina was really a wake up call. >> we can design and engineer a system to not fight nature but kind of work alongside it. >> new orleans is on a good track towards sustainability but the job is not done here. >> it's a revolutionary approach to science reporting. >> this is some of the best driving i've ever done, even though i can't see. >> i really feel my life changing. >> this is the first time anybody's done this. >> i'm walking you guys! >> all i wanted to see was her

walk, it was amazing. >> probably the most profound moment was when i stood up. these were emotions i had been dreaming about for so long. thank you. >> techknow, proud to tell your stories on al jazeera america. sprawling... safe... serene.