I'm not sure the term "superpower" is well defined enough to argue over who is and isn't one, but I do take issue with the idea that the USSR was influential on

I'm not sure the term "superpower" is well defined enough to argue over who is and isn't one, but I do take issue with the idea that the USSR was influential only via its military. Many, if not most, revolutionary movements for quite a while were Marxist in nature. This resulted in the fall and creation of many governments on all 6 populated continents. I think the projection of a particular ideology counts as a form of soft power.