The Russians, nor the Chinese, are going to war with the U.S. Just more of the “Those meddling Russians” meme for public consumption. Think about the worldwide reaction if even a single nuke of any kind went off anywhere for any reason. If anything this is the stuff of distraction.
Little is reported about the rapidly expanding Chinese influence, from U.S. MSM, all around the world to include the ME. Russia and and probably more so China know the way forward is economic expansion and stability.
With that said, the middle east (ME) is a wild card for conventional skirmishes where anything can happen. The whole region is in serious mess even relative to their own serious messes. Just look at the gyrations in SA in the last 2-3 years. One of those players could instigate a war substantial enough to force world powers to pick a side.
MSM fodder. My 2c.