It may not be have been US vs USSR but it was several proxy wars.
But are those proxies wars happening at a higher rate than non-proxy wars were happening before?
I mean by all accounts the only reason that China hasn’t invaded Taiwan at this point is because of how prickly of a target it is (and more accurately how angry of an adversary the US would be if China were to take over the west’s primary computer chip fabrication facilities).
NATO being by far the most heavily armed alliance in the world also seems to be acting as a genuine deterrent in Europe.
In all honesty I have spent most of my life being pretty anti military industrial complex, but the war in Ukraine is what’s making me second guess it. End of the day Russia’s excuses of invading because of NATO aggression are horseshit, they’re just an imperialist expansionist power run by a dictator. What else is supposed to stop them or at least keep them in their place if not weapons that can counter theirs? The war in Ukraine is also demonstrating the limits of strictly defensive armaments … once Russia gained ground suddenly defensive systems are no help in retaking your territory.