It's the reason we have not yet had WW3. The jury is out on whether that is a good thing.
Perhaps we'll find one day that several smaller conflicts (as horrifying as a WW without nukes would be) would have been preferable to one larger civilization-ending one.
Several smaller conflicts ... yep, sounds like the last 70 years of history since WWII. In a sense, we're in the middle of finding out. I agree the jury's out, but it's probably preferable to WWIII, or even a limited nuclear exchange.
perhaps we live in a multiverse, and only the surviver you-s still exist because their universes have still avoided WWIII... ;-)