Rise of Superpowers after WWII

It is often wondered how the superpowers achieved their position
of dominance. It seems that the maturing of the two superpowers,
Russia and the United States, can be traced to World War II. To be a
superpower, a nation needs to have a strong economy, an overpowering
military, immense international political power and, related to this,
a strong national ideology. It was this war, and its results, that
caused each of these superpowers to experience such a preponderance of
power. Before the war, both nations were fit to be described as great
powers, but it would be erroneous to say that they were superpowers at
that point.
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