&gt; It&#x27;s speculation, right? Either it had an overwhelming effect OR it had little if any effect. We&#x27;ll never know -- thank goodness.<p>By that logic, we can &#x27;never know&#x27; anything about historical effects, ever, and it&#x27;s pointless to discuss the consequences of any historical events, including the others you mentioned. But really, the effect of the nuclear bomb in shifting the battlefronts of wars to proxy wars in developing nations under hegemonic control is as clear and as accepted by historians as we can expect.<p>It may not be quite on par with the &quot;theory&quot; of evolution being all-but-proven fact, but it&#x27;s in that ballpark.