They may be the baddest of all but what would have been the course of history if they didn't ever exist? The Cold War might have been the third world war. Let's assume we are living in a world without the nukes.

Year 2031,
This is 21 ^st century India. It is the most populous country in the world. We are now financially strong then ever but that is due to increase in rich citizens. Poverty is more widespread than ever but overall the huge conglomerates balance that out. Middle class is just present in few numbers. They are in the danger if sliding below povety line than ever. Per capita income has increased but so has the population and inflation. Government controls all the industries. Yes, we are now like our chineses counterparts. Last general elections was in 2019. Since then, same prime minister is ruling the nation. That's because we fought a conventional war Pakistan in 2021. To suppress the opposition, the then government ammended the constitution to ban all political parties in the nation. Punjab province of Pakistan, now lies in India. Pakistan is in ruins and China has established it's own protectorate their for an indefinite future. Their were huge casualties on huge sides. But Russia and USA both extended their help to India in terms weapons and money. USA and Russia both hace 1% profits of Indian government as payments of that help.

Israel is now second largest country in the middle eastern region. There was a war between Israel and Iran for territory in 2005. Israel inflicted heavy casualties on Iranian military and forced them sign an instrument of surrender. All other countries refused to help Iran because NATO inflicted heavy pressure on them. That war may have escalated into WWIII but combined efforts of NATO and UN prevented that disaster. Israel-Iran war was one of the most casualty loaded wars of 21 ^st century.