The world of Neuromancer

There are just a few tidbits of information about some of the history of the world of Neuromancer. From a couple of scenes, it is revealed that some Nuclear Warheads were detonated over NATO nations. But the surprising thing WAS that nuclear warheads were detonated, and it did not start full scale nuclear war.  From what I gleamed, this is what appears to have happened.

Basically, the Soviets appeared to have applied more and more pressure on NATO, and forcing them into a war. As a result, they were in a position where they could not counter. The politicians seemed to have not wanted to play ball with the Russians though, and the generals seemed to be forced into a difficult position. If they try and go on the offensive against the Russians, they will be destroyed completely in the nuclear might of the Soviets. So here is the interesting thing, they ended up using nuclear weapons against themselves, in a messed up version of Scorched Earth. This stops the soviets from retaliating, and shows what would happen if they refuse to play ball. It is quite funny, as the Russians are quite famous for using this strategy.  The fact it is being used against them is interesting. The result of the United States and Europe losing due to economic collapse is also fun, as it is a turn of the actual history of the cold war.

What is not clear from the book is what the results of the war are. The European Union seems to be shambles, and a large part of it appears to be radioactive. The funny thing is though, there seems to be no traces of communism in Russia, and so there appears to have been no winner. Where America was in this dispute is also unclear.