So I want to write a timeline about a WWIII in the 60's-70's between communism and capitalism, I.e. USSR and Co. Vs. USA and Co., but I have a few questions and I'd like some input. First and foremost let me just say that I would like to avoid an unconventional or nuclear war between the nations, as the only result of nuclear war is total destruction and in the end that really isn't that interesting. So...
#1. How should the war be set in motion? I've been thinking something along the lines of the superpowers getting more involved in the Six-Day or Yom Kippur Wars in the Middle East, due to the importance of oil and the Holy Land. How could this happen? Or do I need a different POD
#2. What would the sides be? I imagine an "allied" side of France, USA and UK and a "Marxist" side of Russia and China. Is that accurate? Who else would be involved and to what extent?
#3. What would be the fronts? I can see Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe being huge battlegrounds, but where else in the world would the war have been fought? Which nations would be most effected and which if any could stay neutral?
Bonus Question: With the rise of the counterculture in the 1960's, and the Marxist beliefs that many of them had, would it at all be possible for the counterculture to become violent, receive soviet funding, and revolt in areas where they were strong such as the west coast?