Mightier Than the Sword
How Three Obscure Treaties Sanctioned the Enslavement of Millions and the Exploitation of Continents for More Than 400 Years
by Lorraine Atkin

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How can words on paper be more devastating than war? Why is there persistent inequality—racial, financial, structural? Why are things in our society the way they are? Mightier Than the Sword: How Three Obscure Treaties Sanctioned the Enslavement of Millions and the Exploitation of Continents for More Than 400 Years offers a perspective on the roots of the inequality of today. Documents written hundreds of years ago embody the biases and power strategies of their time, but they still have a long reach through history. Atkin examines three treaties—the Treaty of Tordesillas, the Treaties of Nanking, and the Conference of Berlin— that granted permission, or the sanctioned rationale, to decree that annihilation and confiscation of property was legal and just on five continents. Atkin argues these written words continued to achieve their objectives and exercise power by influencing, among other things, the codification of Eurocentric International Law. Enhancing trade was (and remains) the claimed intent but inequality serves this objective. Land dispossession, slavery, and the subjugation of Indigenous peoples are repeated themes in history and are unfortunately still with us today. This book will change how you understand today's events and the continuing influence of historic documents. This fresh perspective offers hope for real change in policy and the societies they shape.

www.lorraineatkin.com

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 “Lorraine Atkin is living proof that autodidacts can become scholars. The product of years of reading and reflection, this book is a genuine contribution to the scholarly literature on the diplomatic history of colonialism, empire, and state-sponsored dominion in western “civilization”. Atkin shows how state power and national interest shaped international law, rather than the other way around. This book is true to the historical record, and is a cautionary tale for anyone currently concerned with international relations. Beware the treaty-makers!” —Stanley Nider Katz, Lecturer with rank of Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. He is the Editor in Chief of the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History. "If you want to read one book to understand why the world map takes the shape it has today, Mightier Than the Sword: How Three Obscure Treaties Sanctioned the Enslavement of Millions and the Exploitation of Continents for More Than 400 Years is your choice. In a purposely provocative and passionately written overview of four hundred years of Eurocentric imperialism, Lorraine Atkin gives us an intriguing twist – the devil is in the treaties. This is a fresh interpretation, peppered with fascinating characters and untold stories from our tortured past. Suddenly we learn the bruising truth about how we all got here.” —Landon Jones, author of William Clark and the Shaping of the West and Celebrity Nation. He is also former managing editor of People Magazine. “Lorraine Atkin’s book is one with a bold and original thesis that deserves attention of historians of colonialism and imperialism. Ms. Atkin shows how treaties provided an effective smokescreen of legitimacy and a façade of legality to the atrocities of colonialism. Considering the scope of both the centuries covered and continents conquered, Ms. Atkin weaves a broad and cohesive narrative. She draws the connections from the treaties to the adverse results that continue unabated. This is an important historical study that adds a crucial piece to the literature on imperialism.” —Ezra N. Suleiman, Emeritus Professor of Politics and IBM Professor of International Studies, Princeton University. He is the author of several books on bureaucracy and European politics. “Most of us have a positive association with the word 'treaty'--don't peace treaties end wars? But you'll think differently after reading this incisive and unusual book. The three crucial treaties Lorraine Atkin examines did not make peace, but legitimated ruthless conquest. We are still living in the unjust world they made." —Adam Hochschild, author, historian, and journalist. His best-known works are King Leopold’s Ghost, To End All Wars, and American Midnight.

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Lorraine Atkin is not just a longtime student of history, law, and politics, but also a former leader in the criminal justice and political fields—all of which inspired her journey of discovery. She wrote Mightier Than the Sword: How Three Obscure Treaties Sanctioned the Enslavement of Millions and the Exploitation of Continents for More Than 400 Years with the hope that the reader can draw connections from the atrocities of the past as a result of these three historical documents to the adverse consequences and inequities we live with today. A mother of seven, a grandmother of twelve, and a great grandmother, Lorraine Atkin lives in Princeton, New Jersey, with her husband.

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Lorraine Atkin

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