“The New Cold War” Includes Interviews with Poland’s Former President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Walesa; Former Romanian President Emil Constantinescu; Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński And Mayor of Longyearbyen Svalbard Christin Kristoffersen
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NEW YORK, November 14, 2014 – A new cold war is brewing as tensions mount between Russia and the West. Al Jazeera America’s “Real Money with Ali Velshi” travels across Eastern Europe, and all the way to the Arctic, to delve into why this emerging confrontation is not just about politics, it’s also about money. The new five-part special report, “The New Cold War,” airs Monday, Nov. 17 through Friday, Nov. 20 at 7pm ET/4pm PT.
Link to the promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmogE1O47Ug
In this special report, Ali Velshi and his team travel to Eastern Europe and inside the Arctic Circle to document growing tensions between Russia and the West. Velshi tours an air base where NATO F16s track incoming Russian bombers, documents NATO war games in Romania, and sits down with Nobel Prize winner Lech Walesa and other newsmakers across Europe, to discuss how the crisis in Ukraine is fundamentally changing how Russia and the West do business.
“The New Cold War” includes interviews with Poland’s former President and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Walesa; former Romanian President Emil Constantinescu; Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechociński and Mayor of Longyearbyen Svalbard Christin Kristoffersen.
The week-long series is as follows:
TENSIONS MOUNTING – Monday, Nov. 17 at 7pm ET
Buried deep inside an Arctic mountain, Norwegian officers monitor giant screens, tracking Russian military movements as Russian bombers increasingly test the boundaries of NATO airspace. But the stakes of this new cold war are about more than just territory and influence. They're also about money. Ali Velshi heads to the top the world where melting polar ice caps are unlocking new shipping routes and billions of dollars in oil and gas. Melting ice in the Arctic---it's an ironic contrast to the new freeze in relations between Russia and the West. That freeze is steadily putting old cold war enemies on a path toward a new round of battles, where the endgame is less about ideology and more about economic control.
THE ECONOMY IS THE ‘CORE’ OF THE CONFLICT – Tues. Nov. 18 at 7pm ET
Polish apple farmers are on the frontlines of an economic war raging between Russia and the West, 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 Western sanctions slapped on Russia. But as Moscow inflicts major pain in this farming community near Warsaw, Russia’s stuttering economy is facing far worse hardship under western sanctions. And yet President Vladimir Putin holds a trump card in Russia's economic war with the West: oil and gas. Europe needs them, and Russia has both.
RUSSIAN ROOTS RUN DEEP: - Wed., Nov. 19 at 7pm ET
Russia has ties to nearly every part of Eastern Europe thanks to energy, economics, centuries of history as well as the diaspora of Russian speakers and ethnic Russians. That’s all complicating the reaction by Eastern European countries to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the backing of rebels in Ukraine. Velshi travels to Bulgaria to document the divided loyalties of Eastern Europeans in a country that’s a member of both NATO and the European Union but where sentiment over Russia is deeply divided, even at the top echelons of Bulgaria’s government. Velshi then contrasts that when he travels to Poland where mistrust of Russia runs deep.
RUSSIAN AND CHINESE FOOTHOLDS IN THE ARCTIC – Thurs., Nov 20 at 7pm ET
As the new cold war heats up, at least two emerging powers are throwing their weight around: Russia and China. The Kremlin has plans for at least 13 new bases, built on former Soviet outposts, across the high north. China, the world’s second largest economy, is also staking its claim. A Chinese business tycoon with deep pockets recently homed in on a piece of property, across from a fjord in Longyearbyen, the capital of Norway’s northernmost territory. Though considered a private investment, it’s raised concerns that this is the beginning of bigger Chinese ambitions. Velshi heads to the high north to investigate.
LECH WALESA IS WORRIED – Fri., Nov. 21 at 7pm ET
Twenty five years ago, the Berlin Wall crumbled and the cold war thawed. But as Ukraine-Russia tensions ripple across Europe, the man credited with exposing the Iron Curtain’s first cracks is again warning of a broader conflict. Lech Walesa, Poland’s iconic cold warrior and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, says the world should take note of Moscow’s military flexing. He reflects on mistakes made in Ukraine and a new cold war shaping between Russia and NATO. Velshi sits down with the former Polish president in Lodz, Poland.
Ali Velshi is host of Al Jazeera America’s “Real Money with Ali Velshi,” an hour-long daily business show that examines economic issues Americans confront every day and delivers actionable solutions. The show airs Monday-Friday 7pmET/4pmPT; 2:30amET/11:30pmPT; and 8:30amET/5:30amPT.
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