In these times we need something other than a stick, something that reaches beyond the range of mere weapons. The president paused and placed his hand upon a globe, fingers running across the continents.

  Such things need to be crafted to present the finest point of control without the blunt certainty of destruction that sways public opinion and upsets plausible deniability.

 To remain in power we need a vehicle, which is agreeable with our neighbors yet confers advantage to our positions. Something of substance, something that carries more weight than the words in the wind.

 We will use the written word crafted into treaties, and bind our neighbors into agreements that purport equity and the promise of dialogue to resolve conflicts of territories and resources. Our finest scholars and merchant wizards will craft the terms with carefully chosen words and meanings.

  Gentlemen, be aware that this softest of weapons is new and untested and that we will strike first in its use, as all subsequent treaties will be under intense scrutiny after our first successful strike.  This is the transformation of politics, as we know it, the transformation that makes the pen mightier than the sword.