system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
The Soviet military was a tremendous threat to Western Europe through the entirety of the Cold War. To the point where NATO planners believed (probably correctly) that only nuclear weapons would have chance to stop them. Acting like it was some kind of false and constructed narrative is incorrect.

The more recent concern was that they could knock out the Baltics before significant NATO forces could be surged into theater and if we look at how much Ukrainian territory was taken in the early days and the generally poor state of Europe's militaries that is not an unrealistic fear to have. NATO and the US always assume enemy readiness and capabilities are 100% to avoid underestimating opponents.
gpt
I'd say its a bit of the opposite. USSR was a big buggy man for internal political reason in west as much a real threat. Not to mention their own propoganda and desperate attempt to be a superpower. You gotta remember that just a year ago, literally days before the invasion, most of the west thought that Russias mighty military would instantly crush Ukraine. But here we are.
So while USSR wasnt weak exactly, its actually acting like they were some unstoppable jugernought that's a constructed narrative. *Especially* in america where it was a massive excuse to feed their own oligrachs via the military for nearly century, even if not quite to the same degree.