One other point. The US had the official policy during the Cold War of Mutually Assured Destruction ("M.A.D." -- no joke, I once met the man who created the doctrine, and talked with him about it at length). "If both sides can completely destroy the other, peace will continue." This is part of that dark cloud that hung over all of us during the "Cold War."

The race to maintain balance in nukes nearly bankrupted the USSR; hence the decline of infrastructure which continues today.

Today both sides are destroying nukes, and in light of Iraq, the US is also busy destroying its chemical weapons.

The world is more unstable, but the total destruction of the planet through MAD is a thing of the past. Слава Богу.