It seems like the proliferation of nukes has resulted in a more stable worldwide society. It's too early to tell, but in a century or two we'll be certain. Is it true that where there are nukes, war isn't?
Basically, MAD only works when both sides are relatively symmetric. When you have weird asymmetric situations, and inability to actual cause true mutual destruction, especially when mixed in with certain ideological elements, nuclear weapons can be anything but stabilizing. For example, an enemy that is already willing to use suicide bombers, or trade civilian/innocent lives to counteract the opponent's advantages may not be fully deterred by nuclear weapons. Especially an enemy that happens to be a non-state actor.
You are of course correct - we do need the long view to actually tell. But I strongly believe that simply proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially in situations without guaranteed mutual destruction is likely not stabilizing.
Technically the new attack vectors were the installation of dual-key Jupiter IRBMs in Italy and Turkey.
The Soviet shipment of IRBMs to Cuba was a natural response to that poor decision.
The Jupiter missiles were all withdrawn, beginning in January 1963, as agreed with the Soviets.
I think that holds only if all parties that have nukes believe they have more to lose if nukes are used than if not.
Ideology can change this decision. That's why nuclear proliferation remains a dangerous thing.
What has changed for the worse, though, is the duration of the wars. For the US at least, WWII was a brief engagement compared to the time spent in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. Regional wars are basically hobbies for wealthy, idle nations.