It was soft power that enabled Byzantium to gain a hold over all of Eastern Europe and to retain it long after its political power had waned. Younger states, aspiring to emulate their venerable neighbour, adopted its systems, its titles, its culture, and its religion. Once Athos was established as a pan-Orthodox beacon of religious excellence, all members of the Byzantine Commonwealth wished to join it. Thus they all established their own monasteries there and Athos emerged as the spiritual heart of the entire Orthodox world. Athos sent out its envoys to provide spiritual nourishment to all the neighbouring states. The peaks of Athonite spirituality were also responding to troughs in the political world around them, notably in the fourteenth, eighteenth, and twentieth centuries. The descent of the Iron Curtain forced Athonite elders to turn to the West. Now, with open borders, Athos is again open to all men who wish to enter and the Athonite Commonwealth has become a global phenomenon.