dependent on russia for so long and which has been a thorn in russia side you know joining the european union nato and also the euro currency so it's. there are other factors that could play a role here money lost money laundering charges by the u.s. administration against the third largest bank and stuff like that but it's quite likely that it's russia involved too but we're not talking about meddling in the affairs of the world's top economists the u.s. we're talking about a tiny nation what what would most go hope to change well i would say they tried to meddle militarily and politically and countries like ukraine and georgia who are not safe in terms of being nato members and e.u. members in latvia estonia lithuania of those small baltic countries that were once part of the soviet union they can't do that so they have to be more subtle they have to find other ways to do it i'm as i said before i'm speculating here but if russia wanted to meddle they would have to do it in the most subtle way such as this putting a wedge between lots of other european union euro currency countries for example w

parties this is the strategic objective to join in the west in a way the west join the nato alliance join the european union and it has been an excellent encourage and most for our reform when we got the greek veto in two thousand and eight for our nato membership it made the country more frustrated more isolated and politics vacuum does not exist so it gets fairly and it play into things including nationalism i don't believe that nato and you can by definition win over nationalism a problem you know they want but giving hope to the people given the prospect of stable more integrated region and continent giving them the perspective for economic growth which usually comes with nato membership and e.u. is the only end to doat that we can offer to this continent when fighting nationalism and we have seen this for example in two thousand and five and two thousand and. six one must join your made an excellent fast step towards the e.u. and the country looked as the positive example in the balkans this is what worked now fast is the key word there because chancellor merkel today said she does see that your countr

greece is blocking its ambition tojoin the european union and nato until the issue is resolved.orts. they came in their tens of thousands from the greek mainland and its many islands. the streets of central athens turned into a sea of blue and white greek flags. protestors said the crowd size was even bigger than the rallies against austerity of the past two years. there were people of all generations and from all walks of life, from mayors to monks, as well as heroes of the greek resistance. the row dates back to 1991, since the former yugoslav republic gained independence. greece objects to using the name macedonia and says there are contentious articles in its neighbour's constitution that could imply territorial claims over the northern region. last week, greek ministers held talks with the united nations envoy to try and help resolve the issue. all sides are pushing to settle the dispute this year. the greek government has accused the far—right and the neo—nazi golden dawn party of exploiting the issue. prime minister alexis tsipras said the majority of people wanted foreig

own northern region also called macedonia athens has vetoes copies membership bids for the european union and nato because of the disputes americal said macedonia the country was on course toward joining the e.u. but didn't specify a date. it is still lights camera action here in berlin where the international film festival is still in full swing and use charlotte shell some pill and scott are down at the red carpet good to see you guys so what movies hit the silver screen today. well today just a few minutes ago we had the world premier of the second of three german films that are here in competition. the stars of the film and the director were strolling down the carpet behind us the film the nice need more interesting name it's called my brother's name is robert and he's an idiot but i write it deals with the light hearted issues doesn't it yeah it was and very jolly no i am screening this morning it was all about incest between from twins it was a bloody neither is i don't want to ruin anything for you know and aspect of all it's three hours long and involves long long discussions of the loss o

under soviet occupation from world war two until one thousand nine hundred one it joined the european union and nato in two thousand and four. well u.s. president is turning up the heat on north korea with a new round of economic sanctions that he is calling the toughest yes but if they don't work he says the u.s. will move on to phase two which he ominously describes as quote very unfortunate for the world's. pressure. as the u.s. imposes its largest range of sanctions yeah but they are targeting shipping companies accused of illegal treating with north korea it's an attempt to force the regime to give up its nuclear and missile programs the u.s. president says he's exploring all options we'll have to see of the sanctions don't work we'll have to go face to face too may be a very rough thing maybe very very unfortunate for the world that really is a rogue nation if we can make a deal it'll be a great thing and if we can't something will have to happen with the increasing threats of military intervention weapons experts warn sanctions alone won't solve the crisis they see their nuclear weapons progr

sonia was under soviet occupation from world war two until ninety one to one then joined the european union and nato in two thousand and four. judges at the berlin film festival are still deliberating but at a gala ceremony later today they will have decided who gets the gold and the silver bear awards for this year's best films one thousand pictures are in the running and the stakes are high last year's winner has been nominated for a best foreign language film oscar is a look at some of the movies that have made a splash this year. the stars on the red carpet have been at the heart of the berlin ali for ten days. but now all eyes are on these six experts the international jewry around president tom tech for they only have a few hours left now to decide who gets the bears. this film from the philippines has the nod from many critics season of the devil is a tale of torture and of the marcos dictatorship it's four hours long it's in black and white and it's a musical some is art for others a provocation. everyone seems to be talking about this man actor france rudolph ski appears in two films which

one thousand nine hundred forty four and two in one nine hundred ninety one it joined the european union and nato in two thousand and four. fears are growing for a group of more than one hundred missing young women in northeastern nigeria now it's believed the book around militants kidnapped them after attacking their school earlier this week the girls desperate parents are cleaning to hope and calling on their government to act now. reports. a remote town in nigeria's northeastern state. has largely been spared from attacks by book jihadists but that ended this week when. the local school dozens of school girls are now missing. this is that some of the students were staying before the attack right now it's deserted classes are suspended its. heat daughter has been missing for days she shows visitors cards from the school as well as a picture of her daughter. the whole family is in despair. we looked everywhere in and around town and couldn't find her. have kidnapped. most parents believe that boko haram took their children witnesses say they saw girls riding on a truck that drove out of the city

european union countries weakening the nato alliance a weakening of the european union so it's quite likely and have we heard from russia in response may go well actually they haven't commented at least i didn't hear anything they won't probably all they will say all of course we have nothing to do with it they don't have to calm and i mean it's if they did it if the got a russian government did it they don't have to comment on it it's just enough to solve the seeds of distrust put the web's as i said between the european union countries you talk about that wedge between baltic countries and countries and institutions really of course that he also is a man the all the euro zone would this not then be a case of also an attack on the e.c.b. yes of course i mean the russian government has tried to intervene militarily and the ukraine or georgia and they can't do this in the baltic countries although they were allowed to because they were really angry when the baltic countries were being admitted into nato and also into the opinion and also into the euro zone so what they're trying to do

it's also where the european union and nato are headquartered. you can see police on the street right now. very little details coming in from overseas. i'm going to update you as soon as we know a little bit more about what is going on right now. but part of that city again, sealed off and being evacuated at this very moment. back to you. >> jessica, thank you. it's 5:19 now. it continues to be a bad news year for would-be home buyers across the nation. the national associati soerks s realtors saying the sales of homes dropped by the most in over three years. rising prices and shortage of holes for sale are the reason. same story in california. existing home sales dropped. the california association of realtors is reporting a shift in sales to placer and stanislaus counties. the average price was over $525,000. >>> hackers who compromise the cloud account did not impact customer data protection. researchers from the cyber security firm red lock are trying to find out who left a web services open to the public. turns out it was tesla. hackers ente

by its neighboring country greece has blocked the former yugoslav republic from joining nato and the european union saying its name implies a claim over the greek province also called macedonia protest as angry at suggestions that the greek. is now ready to reach

greece is blocking its ambition tojoin the european union and nato until the issue is resolved.nd ina and in a tense final, the philadelphia eagles have beaten the new england patriots to claim the 52nd super bowl. in the last few minutes of the game, the eagles, who have never won the competition, pulled ahead 51— 33. now on bbc news it's dateline london. welcome to dateline london. this week, we're discussing theresa may in china, trying to increase trade before brexit, whilst trading blows with the european union, and even some of her own colleagues. donald trump delivered his first state of the union address at the end of his first year as us president. he vowed to end the era of "economic surrender in trade" — who does he mean? and is it a bad business for the middle east if military leadership is on the rise again? with me are bronwen maddox, british political commentator, abdel bari atwan, who writes on arab affairs, italian writer and film—maker anna—lisa piras, and stephanie bakerfrom bloomberg markets. in china, they were calling her "auntie may", but back here in the

so that russia would become in all the institutions, a big part and play a major role in european union, in nato maybe. let's embrace russia with all the demock atization processes that go in the world. as soon as you keep russia distanced, people in russia feel offended. they feel they are not part of the western world. but we are. let's be together in embracing those values. that's the best way to control the situation, the totalitarianism will never happen again in russia or in any other country. >> we will be watching the march 18 elections, and the run-up to them. thanks for joining us from washington tonight. >> thank you, thank you. >>> outspoken and passionate, the russian presidential candidate giving putin, she hopes, a run for his money. russia has also given the world some of the best poets and play wrights, so has america. my next guest, jeremy irons, is winning rave reviews for his portrayal of an actor in eugene o'neill's master spees, "long day's journey into night." he's been wowing audiences since 1981 with his breakthrough role in tv's "brides head revisited." more than 35 yea

union. and then we expanded the western alliance, nato, the european union, all these institutions, we expanded them eastward into the former communist countries. - [narrator] washington is the largest shareholder in the international monetary fund and the world bank, giving it massive sway over the global economy. - these particular monetary institutions were enshrined after the second world war, and they are very much tied up in this notion that with better commercial ties, also comes more peace. - we were able to create a single international political and economic space in which economic and social, any one development could proceed much more rapidly and far further than ever was the case before in history. (dramatic music) - the second half of the 20th century was the most glorious period in human history ever. three billion people lifted out of abject poverty. - [narrator] to some, the collapse of the soviet union in 1991 represented the end of history, the moment when the american democratic system would become the prevailing political and economic order in perpetuity. - there was this v

greece is blocking its ambition tojoin the european union and nato until the issue is resolved. and, in a tense final, the philadelphia eagles beat the new england patriots to claim the 52nd super bowl. in the last few minutes of the game, the eagles, who have never won the competition, pulled ahead by 41—33. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from the world economic forum in davos. argentina says it wants to re—engage with the world, especially through its presidency of the g20. it wants better ties with washington after many years of a poor relationship. my guest is argentina's foreign ministerjorge faurie. just seven months into the job, what is his assessment of ties with the trump administration which, after all, has been unsettling its neighbours in latin america. foreign ministerjorge faurie, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for inviting me. two years ago when president macri took office he said he wanted to improve relations with the world and argentina's neighbours. can you encapsulate for us what that means? we are trying to reopen argentina to the

we have to make a difference between nato what we just talked about what you just talked about and the european union in nato you have a situation where one ally is basically pitted against another one that would be turkey against the united states of america in the northern syria that's a very difficult situation it's a huge problem that nato well is not trying to cover up it is not really talking about we're trying to research that here. in brussels so keep you know we'll keep you posted stay tuned to d.w. for news on that now for the other things you mention in the european union of course it's a huge problem especially for the member states but also for the european union but the bottom line here is that it seems the european union feels like they have more to lose if they just stop the relations and stop this deal with turkey because it would probably have the migration crisis flare up again so the parents are you there willing not necessarily to overlook that situation they're in constant contact with the turkish authorities but it's not enough for them to break off clean our correspondents max

greece is blocking macedonia's ambition to join the european union and nato until the issue is resolvedould significantly weaken britain's defences. the government, which is reviewing defence spending, is said to be considering axing 2,000 marines and the royal navy's two amphibious assault ships. daniela relph reports. it is a warning to government over the future of the royal marines. they're among britain's elite fighting forces and provide half the personnel for the uk's special forces. the report says more cuts would affect their ability to be a high calibre unit. and cutting ships from which beach assaults are made one militarily ill lit rail. the committee praises the defence secretary. he took control of a defence review. he is under pressure to make cuts against the funding cases being made by other government departments, but faces arguments from military chiefs that defence must be a priority. since 2010, our military has been cut by a third in its capability. if this round of cuts happen it will be cut by half. can you imagine if we only had half the number of hospitals? spe

greece is blocking macedonia's ambition to join the european union and nato until there's a solution.an see, on the streets. the headlines on bbc news: a senior brexiteer accuses ministers of being vague and divided in their plans for leaving the eu. at least two people have been killed and dozens injured after a collision between two trains in south carolina. mps warn that cuts to the royal marines would leave britain's global interests ‘at serious risk‘. the hollywood actress, uma thurman, has claimed that the disgraced film producer, harvey weinstein, tried to sexually assault her in a london hotel. the star has made detailed accusations in a newspaper interview. mr weinstein's lawyer said his client was stunned and saddened by what he considered false allegations. it comes as scotland yard confirms it's looking into two more allegations of sexual assault against the producer. our correspondent, simon jones, has more. she starred in several films produced by the disgraced movie mogul. it was after the success of pulp fiction that uma thurman says she was targeted by harvey weinstei

with neighboring macedonia gray says blocked the former yugoslav republic from joining nato and the european union saying its name implies a claim over a greek province or so cold macedonia john psaropoulos reports from. her the message was clear macedonians are greeks and no one other than the greeks should be allowed to use the name macedonia greeks refer to their neighbor by the name of its capital city skopje their opinion is important because they hold a power of veto over its entry to nato and the european union he might get a new enemy again as only one macedonian and its greek greek people will not accept the fact of the name we determine to show that we went out to history under the terms that can be no european prospects copia this was greece's official position until about a decade ago it has since accepted the use of the composites name such as more than all slavs macedonia and a new government in scope is willing to die you to the countries constitutional name republic of macedonia so the basis for a compromise in theory exists the question is can the two societies accept it the greek

pact nations could not have been taken into the european union without the nato security umbrella. europeans were left in strategic limbo, they would have very likely rearmed to the strategic disadvantage of their economies. they may very well have claimscted territorial with their neighbors, basically throwing that part of europe into conflict and chaos. furthermore, the u.s. and our allies did everything possible to convince post-soviet russia that it was not a target or deterrence for nato. the participants who are active in creating the partnership for peace and the nato russian council during the clinton and bush 43 administrations. bottom line, the so-called missed opportunities are phantoms, they simply were not realistic or prudent, or contra double alternatives -- constable alternatives. two final points, yes, the ussr lost the cold war. that because it was defeated by rather it was defeated by itself. is its murderous self-defeating system. yesterday, while the russian empire achieved record-breaking longevity, the soviet union had the biblical lifespan of three score and

european integration, and nato is taking away or supplanting this. we could talk about big, imaginary thinking, but really, the common european hope was to completely integrate the soviet union and russia in the family of european nations. there were other possibilities rather than strengthening nato at the time. as many people pointed out, even in negotiations with gorbachev in 1990 over the german reunification, a lot of attention was given reunification, a lot of to what wass compared to the, european hope. new european structure, changing the nato character to be a more political structure, the nine points, right? all of that seems to quietly disappear from the attention of the u.s. policymakers in 1991 and 1992. this is on one hand. russian now is feeling already not integrated, but certainly want this partnership. on the other hand, the russian economic reform, the liberalization and privatization that starts in 1992, by the end of 1992, it did not produce any real results. it was very painful for the population. by the end of 1992 the inflation reached 2500%. this initial grand, deep support for the economic reform by the russian population is becoming diluted, people

european defense policy in a time when established security structures are under strain the war in syria tensions between the us and russia disagreements between key nato allies and within the european union breaks it for example is raising questions about the future of defense policy without britain but prime minister to resign may try to l a fierce calling for a new european security deal. europe security is security and that is why i have said and i say again today that the united kingdom is conditionally committed to maintaining it europe discord on the inside a united front on the outside it may be a far off dream but a european defense union is underway even if some view it as competition for nato. yes we want to emancipate ourselves but not against nato or the united states. the message from unique for europe there can only be strength in unity. turkey's prime minister banal i know that i am also spoke at the munich conference and delivered a strong defense of his country's efforts to stop terrorism to call turkey a constitutional country where the rule of law was strong and said no one has the right to question turkey's government he also said relations between germany and turkey

european defense policy in a time when established security structures are under strain the war in syria tensions between the u.s. and russia disagreements between key nato allies and within the european union. breaks it for example is raising questions about the future of defense policy without britain but prime minister theresa may try to fierce calling for a new european security deal. europe security is security and that is why i have said and i say again today that the united kingdom is conditionally committed to maintaining it europe discord on the inside a united front on the outside it may be a far off dream but a european defense union is underway even if some view it as competition for nato. yes we want to emancipate ourselves but not against nato or the united states. the message from unique for europe there can only be strength in unity. and our chief political correspondent linda crane has been covering the conference and she joins us now from munich melinda the german foreign minister saying my gabriella who spoke earlier today he expressed concern about the reliability of germany's main ally the u.s. under president trump we have a short clip let's have a quick listen. perhap

european defense policy at a time when established security structures are under pressure strained by the war in syria tensions between the u.s. and russia and disagreements between both key nato allies and within the european union brics it for example is raising questions about a future defense policy without britain. but prime minister to resign may try to calm fears by calling for a new european security deal europe's security is our security and that is why i have said and i say again today that the united kingdom is unconditionally committed to maintaining it europe discord on the inside but presenting a united front it may be a far off dream but a european defense union is underway even if some view it as competition from nato . you know you yes we want to emancipate ourselves but not against nato or the united states. the message from munich for europe that can only be strength in unity. and we're going to take you to munich now where our chief political editor mckayla proof is standing by for us good morning mckayla now there's been a major backlash i believe to those comments made by the polish prime minister matteo more of yet ski about to jewish perpetrators i believe tell us more. yes basically after

those ex warsaw pact nations would not have been able to be taken into the european union without the nato security. umbrella. if the central europeans were left in a strategic limbo, they would very likely have rearmed to the disadvantage of their economies, they might very well have resurrected territorial claims on their neighbors with their neighbors, and basically thrown that part of the europe into conflict and case os. chaos. furthermore, the u.s. and our allies did everything possible to convince post soviet russia that it was not a target for deterrence for nato. there are participants here who are active creating the partnership for peace and the nato council. bottom line, the so-called missed opportunities i think are phantoms. they simply weren't realistic or prudent to the conscionable to the policies we put forward. two final points. yes, the ussr lost the coal war. but not because it was defeated by the west. rather, the ussr was defeated by itself. that is, its murderous self-defeating system. i noted yesterday while the russian empire achieved record-breaking longevity, th

but they also seriously disrupted our interaction with our key allies, with europe, the european union, with nato. they have been extraordinarily successful. right now there are two tracks, two tracks. let us keep in mind, there is the track about the ongoing investigation, the indictments, whether trump and his campaign were involved or whatever. that's one track. let that work itself out. the other track is what was said. russia is engaged in espionage and subversion. they are, and this is directly from dan coats, the head of the national security agency, they are doing it now in the current election. we must protect ourselves. we must take action. sanctions must be immediate. they must be hard. and we must make every effort, every law enforcement, every intelligence agency, to strike back. >> i'm curious if we can stack up these indictments, how does it rank among other big developments in the russia investigation, and that would include the plea deal by former national security adviser mike flynn. >> let's put them all together. now we know, categorically, we know it from h.r. mcmaster, from

with neighboring macedonia gray says block to the former yugoslav republic from joining nato and the european union saying its name implies a claim over a greek province also called macedonia organizers say some one point five million people turned out to express their opposition to attempts by the government of prime minister elected cept for us to broker a deal the place put the figure at around one hundred forty thousand john psaropoulos has more from athens. the central message of today's protest in athens has been that there should be no use on any terms of the word macedonia in the name eventually negotiated with the neighboring country the former yugoslav macedonia those talks that have now begun in the last two weeks between athens and the former yugoslav macedonian capital scapa have started on the basis of the notion that there will be a compromise on the greek side the compromise is that the word macedonia would be included and on the former yugoslav macedonian sides the compromise is that that would would be qualified by something like northern or slow of so that it wouldn't be pure rep

by its neighboring country greece has blocked the former yugoslav republic from joining nato and the european union saying its name implies a claim over the greek province also called macedonia protest as angry at suggestions that the greek. is now ready to reach a compromise. and joins us live now we've been seeing through the day many thousands converging on that main square what is it specifically that they don't like about the compromise. well as you say hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in central athens today many of them on chartered buses from all four corners of greece and their message was no to the use of the term macedonia in the name the official name that will be negotiated with the former yugoslav republic of macedonia they say that the compromise solution on the basis of which both sides have come back to the negotiating table after twenty one and a half year low is not a basis that they are prepared to accept and this obviously complicates matters greatly for the diplomats involved and the two national leaders involved who put their personal backing into these talks now

europe where they continue to seed audience space, anybody where they can break up a union, so european union, nato, they will continue to see it in those populations. so i would tell you to look at catalonia or scotland, they are moving there. i think mcmaster pointed to mexico as another example where they have seen some sort of audience in filtration. key trigger i always look for is hacking, when they launch widespread they are making a decision to go after an objective. and that's one thing i would tell everyone to look for on the horizon. beyond that, if you want to know where the russians are going with their influence, you should always look at where they are putting up new state sponsored outlets. to in filtrate an audience, you have to have a base of content to launch your campaign. so when they add an additional language or wire service, let's say sputnik news or youtube channel that is audience they'll reach for. and i would tell you right now they are looking very heavily into latin america. i think they would like to build the capability more in the middle east moving forward. beyond

neighboring masses macedonia greece has blocked the former yugoslav republic from joining nato and the european union saying its name implies a claim over a greek province or so-called macedonia just or a place has more from athens. the central message of today's protest in athens has been that there should be no use on any terms of the word macedonia in the name eventually negotiated with the neighboring country the former yugoslav macedonia those talks that have now begun in the last two weeks between athens and the former yugoslav macedonian capital sculpey have started on the basis of the notion that there will be a compromise on the greek side the compromise is that the word macedonia would be included and on the former yugoslav macedonian sides the compromise is that that would would be qualified by something like northern or slow of so that it wouldn't be pure republic of macedonia which was the original position of that country and has been for the last twenty five years but the compromise basis on which those talks have now begun appears to have been thrown into doubt by the fact that twice

that would be anti-nato, anti-european union and anti-immigrant, which you know was his platform. >> did you see the hand of vladimir putin in this? you'll get a free checked bag. two united club passes. priority boarding. and earn fifty thousand bonus miles after you spend three thousand dollars on purchases in the first three months from account opening plus, zero-dollar intro annual fee for the first year, then ninety-five dollars. learn more at theexplorercard.com tempur-pedic delivers. only tempur material precisely conforms to your weight, shape and temperature. and tempur-pedic is the best at minimizing motion transfer from your partner, so you won't be disturbed during the night.. you'll wake up, feeling like a champion. this president's day save up to $600 on select adjustable mattress sets from the brand ranked highest in customer satisfaction with mattresses by j.d. power. find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic.com we all want to know you know, the new, new thing. with xfinity's retail stores, you can now see the latest. want to test drive the latest devices? be our g

that would be anti-nato, anti-european union and anti-immigrant, which you know was his platform. >> did you see the hand of vladimir putin in this? >> yes, i did. one of the interesting things is the indictment seems to confirm the christopher steele report because he talks about the russians sort of earmarking donald trump and cultivating him for several years. so to me -- he also discusses the cyber operations. so it's very interesting for the people who have tried to discredit the steele dossier this is another confirmation. >> we have to squeeze in a break and then come back with our russia experts because this is the most important part of this discussion tonight. we'll be right back. ♪ it's time for the 'ultimate sleep number event' on the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort your sleep number setting. and snoring? does your bed do that? right now during the ultimate sleep number event, save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed with adjustable comfort on both sides. plus 24-month financing. ends monday. visit sleepnumber.com for a store near you. if yor

that would be anti-nato, anti-european union and ant anti-immigrant, which you know was his platform. >> did you see the hand of vladimir putin in this? >> yes, i did. one of the interesting things is the indictment seems to confirm the christopher steele report because he talks about the russians sort of earmarking donald trump and cultivating him for several years. so to me -- he also discusses the cyber operations. so it's very interesting for the people who have tlieed ried to discredit the steele dossier this is another confirmation. >> we have to squeeze in a break and then come back with our russia experts because this is the most important part of this discussion tonight. we'll be right back. [drip. drip.] need a change of scenery? kayak searches hundreds of travel and hotel sites so you can be confident you're getting the perfect hotel at the best price. soak it in. kayak. search one and done. i don't want to lie down. i refuse to lie down. why suffer? stand up to chronic migraine with botox®. botox® is the only treatment for chronic migraine shown to actually prevent headach

assumption, an assumption and a warning, an assumption that when central europe joined nato and the european union, they would be safe and secure enter those two multilateral straight jackets, yet they began to stray. those institutions would help them. we were so proud of ourselves and of their success in 2004. five years later, a group of the most pro-american central and eastern european leaders wrote an open letter to president o obama. there was no need, because they were very good friends. there was one phrase when i read the letter that it struck me. i am going to read it to you in their words. they told us, russia uses overt and quo vert means of economic warfare ranging from energy blo blockades and bribery and media manipulation to advance its interest and to challenge the transatlantic orientation of central and eastern europe. i just thought, is that true? could economic interests change the transatlantic orientation of these countries? what we did, we partnered with a wonderful think tank in bulgaria, the center for the study of democracy, that has been toiling and looking at how russ

- [nikolayenko] putin decided to take action and stop georgia's close cooperation with nato and the european union. so they decided to advance and create turmoil in the former soviet republic. - the west was basically looking at its shoes as he conducted this invasion, and he mistakenly assumed that he could do the same thing in eastern ukraine. and there he was surprised by ukrainian resistance. - [narrator] in another proxy war, russian troops and syria are defending president bashar al-assad. (explosion) - we had over the decades thousands of jihadists from the broader middle east including syria fighting in chechnya against russia. so for russia, the outcome of the syrian civil war is as much about russia's internal security, as it is about the country's external security. (bells toll) (speculative music) - [narrator] policymakers disagree on whether to approach putin's russia with engagement or confrontation. - [polyakova] the american people, i think are rightfully quite confused about 'is putin a good guy?' 'is russia really that bad?' 'why should we care?' it's 'cause our political leaders

a member of nato, a member of the european union. so what we did, we tried to be a very -- what we have to be is very rigorous in the methodology. we can write anecdotally about how things work, but we really wanted to crunch the numbers as best we can because russian economic interest is designed to be opaque, to be highly complex. you can't see it. they don't want you to see it. but we did crunch the numbers over a decade from 2004 to 2014 and what we saw again in bulgaria's case, 22% of bulgarian gdp was russian investment. when something is 22% of your economy, you're going to pay attention to it when it's unhappy or when it starts changing. so we wanted to see if the economic footprint matched the deterioration of the rule of law in these countries, in media reform and in anti-corruption efforts. we did not find a direct correlation. what we found and detected was a pattern. that was the kremlin playbook. it was an invirtuous circle of corruption. so here's basically how it works. russia would, using its networks and its influen