| Causes | Cold War tensions • Mutually assured destruction • Proliferation of nuclear weapons |
| Effects | Prolonged Cold War • Small-scale nuclear exchanges • Accidents • Environmental disasters • Millions of civilian casualties • Global devastation |
| Emergence | Shortly after World War II |
| Type of warfare | |
| Notable treaties | |
| Present-day impact | Prominent issue in the modern world |
| Primary nations involved | Soviet Union • United States |
