"Explaining Divergent Paths in Christian Populist Participation in South Korea and Germany"

What explains the growing engagement of Christians in populist movements? Religious nationalism or tensions between different religious beliefs are commonly used to explain the trend. In this study, we seek to provide an alternative explanation to the literature: the legacy of Cold War history. Focusing on Germany and South Korea, we examine the divergent paths of Christians in populist movements in both countries. Both South Korea and Germany were partitioned during the Cold War and Christians were heavily persecuted by communist atheistic regimes. In both countries this resulted in the creation of anti-communist nationalist Christian resistance movements. Despite these historical similarities, Christian engagements in South Korean and German populist movements have diverged. While Christians in South Korea still employ anti-communist rhetoric to sustain anti-China/Chinese immigration sentiment, populist Christians in Germany have been increasingly linked to Russian sympathizers. Through historical comparative analysis, we demonstrate the explanatory power of Cold War politics for this divergence. This study will contribute to the literature on populism and religion and bridging two regional studies of Europe and Asia.