If, like me, you were obsessed with Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising as a child growing up during the late Cold War, then Third World War 1987 is the site for you:
I intend to take a multifaceted approach with this blog. Primarily, I want to construct a detailed narrative, and timeline centered on a US/NATO-Soviet Union/Warsaw Pact conflict set in 1987. Attached to that will be a comprehensive account of the global military picture as it was in 1987.
Of course it lacks some of the frisson of Clancy’s original, as a superpower confrontation like this is now firmly in the realms of alternative history rather than a plausible what-if, but it’s still an earnest, in-depth look at what could’ve been. The actual story starts with an NBC news broadcast on April 18, 1987 and you can continue it by clicking on the next post link at the bottom of the page. It’s a bit awkward to navigate as the links are listed below the comments, while related posts show up above it. That minor quibble aside, this is an enjoyable read if you’re a bit of a grognard. World War III fanfic, if you like.
As for how likely such a conflict was during those last years of the Cold War, MILITARY PLANNING FOR EUROPEAN THEATRE CONFLICT DURING THE COLD WAR AN ORAL HISTORY ROUNDTABLE STOCKHOLM, 24– 25 APRIL 2006 (PDF) is essential. Basically a gathering of various NATO and Warsaw Pact military commanders reminiscing about the Cold War, reading it makes clear nobody took the idea of a war actually breaking out between the two seriously at the time. Reading through the testimonies it’s clear that they all took the idea of war seriously and endlessly prepared for it, but never expected it to really happen, as it didn’t. Reassuring to read, even retrospectively.
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