Post-Nuclear War Timelines

Poul Anderson's main fictional futures set after a nuclear war:

the Psychotechnic History

the Maurai History

Twilight World (almost a future history)

Vault Of The Ages

Shield

The Psychotechnic History begins in the immediate aftermath of World War III. Are we living in the prelude to it? If so, then we need to heed this warning:

"...in strictly pragmatic terms, the early atomic era was the best time to resolve East-West rivalry; the crude weapons of that day could not sterilize Earth."

-Sandra Miesel IN Poul Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League (Riverdale, NY, October 2017), p. 3.

Or might the powers that be escalate local conflicts into a third global conflict while maintaining their tacit agreement not to deploy nukes? Thus, replay WWII: invade Poland, occupy France, besiege Britain, draw in the Americans, but without nuking anyone?

The Psychotechnic History includes "'What if World War III had not happened'?' fiction. Thus, a fictional timeline tangentially comments on the Earth Real timeline.