Superpowers+and+Periphery

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The Soviet Union realizing they were unable to eradicate religious faith in 1920 and confronted with its power and persistence, they had little option but to accommodate and work with it. In the Second World War, all the countries fought for the allegiance of organized Christianity. Its revived standing meant that, despite the aspirations of Christian leaders to reassert their spiritual authority and secure an independent voice in the corridors of power, in the subsequent Cold War struggle for power, religion became contested terrain, first east-west and then north-south. While the United States proved the most capable in mobilising Christianity, religion also afforded a voice to the marginalised and dispossessed, to the oppressed and poorer of the world's nations as the superpowers competed for their allegiance. Both superpowers knew that, for many peoples and societies, religion was more relevant and meaningful than democracy, a contested concept to which each side laid claim.