At the risk of thread necromancy, there was one comment on here from CalBear that fascinated me:
I'd love to hear more about this. Particularly the idea of NATO attacking USSR. I grew up with the idea of the USSR as an immense unconquerable military colossus, and that attacking it would be suicidal insanity. CalBear, if you'd care to elaborate, I'm all ears!
Well, I'm not CalBear, but ja, that's true.
NATO looked at Warsaw Pact armies and said "OMG, look at the vaste commie hordes ready to pour over the border". This was aided and abetted, of course by Soviet propaganda and it trying to export the revolution.
Russia looked at NATO armies and said "OMG, look at their technological superiority." This was aided and abetted by (especially US) propaganda about the evils of Communism.
Don't forget, too, that Russian had been invaded horrifically by the West twice, and by the Mongols (once, maybe but it lasted for centuries). They expect, OF COURSE, that any serious enemy is going to try to roll across their borders.
Unfortunately, neither side really understood the other's position until the wall came down.
Also, it was in the best empire building traditions of each side's military to overplay the strength of their opponent. How can we possibly justify billions of dollars/rubles/marks/whatever in military expenditure if the other side isn't a serious danger.
Edit: one of the most egregious examples was the Missile Gap. The US knew they had more missiles, but claiming the Russians did allowed even greater funding. The Russians KNEW they didn't, so obviously the build up could only mean the US planned a first strike.