New Cold War Emerging?

Turn up your thermostat. As Vladimir Putin enters what could be the last year of his presidency, he has become more defiant of international pressure and more willing to challenge the United States and Europe.

Russia's affluence and stability, fueled by high oil prices, have given him the confidence to confront the West and to try to reassert the nation's influence as a world power. But Western critics warn the Kremlin's new assertiveness reflects renewed imperial ambitions and threatens its neighbors.

In his state of the nation speech, Putin denounced what he said was foreign interference in Russia's internal affairs. Angered by a U.S. plan to place ballistic missile defenses in the Czech Republic and Poland, he threatened to walk away from an agreement that regulates the deployment of heavy non-nuclear weapons around Europe.