[sdenton4]

So Vietnam just doesn't count? It wasn't a small way by any metric that matters - it just happened to not be on the home soil of the us or ussr.

[safety1st]

Count towards what? The article refers to the "long peace" since WW2 which included the Cold War. This is a well known concept, there's lots of evidence to support it being real, it's a central concept in the field of international relations, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Peace

Vietnam doesn't invalidate the long peace, no. At least I'm not aware of any academic arguments to that effect, they may exist, I haven't studied this stuff since college.

[rocqua]

It counts, but it isn't enough to make the period after ww2 be less peaceful than the period before.

[sophacles]

Ignoring the strictly subjective "matters" bit - what metrics make it medium or large?