The "New Cold War" refers to a revival of the political and military unrest, magnified by the modern era domains such as informational, cyber and social media with deep economic repercussions. The continuous changes in the Eastern Europe have a great influence on the Romanian security environment, raising many challenges for the decision makers. This study tried to decipher this security paradigm, unfolding the Russian economic, political and military capabilities, analyzing the Russian objectives, methods and resources allocated to implement its strategies and describing the Kremlin foreign affairs policies, reveling, in the end, the challenges answered by the most recent Romanian National Security Strategy. Whatever history will decide to name it, this emerging "New Cold War" will definitely affect the entire international community. Therefore, young and vulnerable democracies must acknowledge the fact they represent significant opportunities for the Russian leadership to create unrest and instability, challenging both the nation and the organization that is part of.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student-authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to these studies should include the foregoing statement.)