If World War III Erupted in Asia (Robert Farley, The National Interest)

Nearly every analyst during the Cold War agreed that, if Moscow and Washington could keep the nukes from flying, the Central Front in Europe would prove decisive in war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The NATO alliance protected the Western European allies of the United States from Soviet aggression, while the Warsaw Pact provided the USSR with its own buffer against Germany.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/if-world-war-iii-erupted-asia-15809