Sentence:  Fearful of inviting a military <WSD>showdown</WSD> with the West which they could not win , the Communists seek to undermine Western power where the nuclear might of the West is irrelevant - in backwoods guerrilla skirmishes , in mob uprisings in the streets , in parliaments , in clandestine meetings of undercover conspirators , at the United Nations , on the propaganda front , at diplomatic conferences - preferably at the highest level . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a hostile disagreement face-to-face