Essentially what it says on the tin. How does art and culture develop in the wake of the Third World War breaking out in the late 1980s?
Since I know that any such discussion depends heavily on the particulars of the war, here is a brief scenario ripped off from those of much better authors:
POD is 1985, with either Grishin or Romanov replacing Chernenko instead of Gorby. Tensions are much worse than OTL, as the US - USSR thaw that occurred under Gorbachev never takes place. Finally, during the summer of 1988 a major crisis develops between the US and USSR (let's say Iran collapses under sustained Iraqi chemical attack and the USSR swoops in to grab the oil). Tension builds across the Iron Curtain until finally the Warsaw Pact launches a full-scale attack against NATO forces on October 27, 1988. Hostilities break out across the world, from the Korean Peninsula to South Africa to Central America to North Africa/the Middle East as US and Soviet allies duke it out.
The war lasts roughly four months, long enough that Bush still succeeds Reagan as President roughly halfway through. Despite nearly being overwhelmed in the early days of the war by the sheer number of WarPac troops, NATO is able to hold on, and a stalemate develops in Central Europe. NATO is able to score some victories, however. Cuba is crushed very early on, and NATO superiority in the Med grants them victory in the Middle East.
In late January 1989, a combination of brilliant maneuvers and sheer luck allows NATO to turn the tide against the Soviets, even beginning to push into East Germany.
Tactical nuclear weapons are utilized by both sides in Korea and Germany in late February. Fearing a total strategic exchange, a faction within the Red Army and KGB overthrows the Soviet regime and negotiates a peace with the West. The USSR accepts the fall of many of their allies across the world, while both sides agree to a withdrawal to pre-war lines in Europe.
End result: NATO victory. Soviet client states such as Cuba, Libya, and North Korea have been decisively defeated, their governments overthrown, their territory occupied. Despite a status quo ante bellum peace, Eastern European communism collapses in mid-1989, the strain of war proving too much to bear. Only the USSR survives, held (mostly) intact by the military junta in power.
With that scenario in mind, try to brainstorm what 90s-present culture looks like in the wake of one of the most devastating conflicts in recent history. It can be as broad as general trends across society or as narrow as what a certain artist might do during and after WW3.
Some of my predictions for American culture:
- The US regards the war much more positively than much of the rest of the rest of the world, due to it being a clear victory and not suffering nearly the same sort of devastation as was wrought upon Germany or Korea. Still, the staggering losses incurred and the failure to completely defeat the USSR weigh heavy on the American psyche.
- Reagan-worship knows no bounds as he is remembered for providing strong leadership throughout the bulk of the war. Bush also goes down as one of the greats for his role in bringing the war to an end and leading America into a new age of peace. Likely reelected in 1992.
- WW3 films become all the rage throughout the 1990s and 2000s. WW2 films and WW1 films less prevalent - films like Saving Private Ryan might be butterflied away or reworked to fit into a WW3 context.
- Technothriller authors scramble to try and find a way to recoup from real life eclipsing their work. Tom Clancy takes a break from writing fiction and instead collaborates with historians and veterans to create a massive non-fiction novel detailing the Third World War through the eyes of soldiers, politicians, and civilians on both sides. Entitled something like Red Storm Realized or The Eagle and the Bear, the work is hailed as Clancy's magnum opus upon it's release in 1993. Meanwhile, Harold Coyle writes a book detailing his personal experiences in the war, comparing his fictional scenario in Team Yankee with the real thing.
Soviet culture:
- The humiliating defeat, loss of empire, and political and economic chaos creates a general sense of despair across the peoples of the Soviet Union. The military junta and it's security apparatus do their best to suppress dissent, fighting costly battles in the Baltics, the Caucasus, and parts of Soviet Central Asia to hold the Union together. The US and much of the world tacitly support the junta with economic aid while publicly condemning their atrocities, fearing either a nuclear Second Russian Civil War or the rise of a revanchist regime dead-set on reconquering Eastern Europe.