{"id":328,"date":"2011-03-25T05:52:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-25T05:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geocurrents.info\/?page_id=328"},"modified":"2016-01-03T11:25:02","modified_gmt":"2016-01-03T19:25:02","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About GeoCurrents"},"content":{"rendered":"

GeoCurrents<\/em> is a map-illustrated forum dedicated to global geography, especially as it relates to current events. This website seeks to provide historical background, regional analysis, and political and intellectual context for issues in the news, both major and minor, as long as they have a clear geographic expression. Cultural geography, particularly as expressed in matters of language and religion, is also emphasized.<\/p>\n

GeoCurrents<\/em> regularly provides new maps of economic and social conditions, elections, and conflicts. The base-maps used to construct these illustrations are offered to the public for free download<\/a>, in easy-to-use PowerPoint and Keynote formats. All GeoCurrents<\/em> original maps, as well as customizable base-maps, are found under the heading \u201cGC Maps\u201d<\/a> on the site\u2019s main menu bar, located just above the most recent post, as well as at the top of each individual post or page. They are organized both thematically<\/a> and by country<\/a>. Two much more detailed cartographic productions are also found here: the GeoCurrents Demic Atlas<\/a><\/em>, which subdivides the world not into independent countries but rather into aggregations of approximately 100 million inhabitants; and two GeoCurrents language maps of the Caucasus<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

All new GeoCurrents<\/em> essays are posted in the headline section of site. Many of these posts are short, stand-alone articles that focus on one particular issue. Longer discussions are broken down into several articles that are posted sequentially over the course of several days or even weeks. The more detailed of these \u201cfocused series\u201d have been gathered together and organized under a multi-colored bar on the homepage located just under the most recent post, as well as under the \u201cSeries\u201d heading in the main menu (accessible from all posts and pages). Older GeoCurrents<\/em> posts are accessible through the \u201cmaster map\u201d<\/a> located in the upper-right corner of the homepage, which is organized according to the location of the issue in question. Posts that examine global issues are placed in the master map in Palo Alto, California, as that is the home location of the website. Older GeoCurrents<\/em> articles are also categorized both thematically and regionally under the \u201cCategories\u201d<\/a> and \u201cPlaces\u201d<\/a> headings on the main menu bar. If you can also search GeoCurrents <\/em>posts by publication month, at the bottom left of the homepage. Moreover, you can check out GeoCurrents <\/em>latest, most popular, or random posts at the right-side bar on the homepage.<\/p>\n

GeoCurrents <\/em>aims to be instructive rather than polemical. Controversial issues are often discussed, but the general goal is to approach each new issue on its own terms, without a predetermined political position. While local perspectives and divergent views are incorporated and analyzed, seldom is a particular stance endorsed. That said, however, it is essential to note that GeoCurrents<\/em> operates from the perspective that the standard geopolitical model of the world, which is habitually used across the political spectrum, is much too simplistic to do justice to the complexities of the world that we all inhabit. A much longer discussion of this issue is found under the label \u201cGC Conceptual Concerns,\u201d<\/a> located under the \u201cAbout\u201d heading on the main bar. Periodically, moreover, explicit opinion pieces are published on GeoCurrents<\/em>. These editorials are marked as such, and are archived under the \u201cEditorials\u201d<\/a> section on the main page.<\/p>\n

Comments and criticism from informed readers are always welcome, but this is not a forum for venting political or ideological frustrations or for pursuing nationalist tussles over contested historical narratives. Comments on recent posts often receive a reply from the author, but this is in general not the case for older posts. Offensive or hateful comments will be erased, and repeat offenders can be banned from commenting on this site. Please see the GeoCurrents<\/em> Comments Policy page<\/a> for details.<\/p>\n

GeoCurrents<\/em> is run by Martin W. Lewis, who is the author of most of the posts and maps found on this site. Occasionally, however, articles are written and posted by guest authors, as it is explicitly noted on these posts. Quite a few of the articles and maps found on GeoCurrents<\/em> have been done in collaboration with Asya Pereltsvaig, who has also done much of the organizational work on the site. Special thanks are due both to Asya and to Kevin Morton of K&J Web Productions<\/a>, who maintains the GeoCurrents<\/em> website.<\/p>\n

The advertisements found on the site cover the costs of hosting and maintenance, but do not return a profit. We have experimented with running a commercial-free site, but the subsidies necessary to do so were too large to be sustainable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GeoCurrents is a map-illustrated forum dedicated to global geography, especially as it relates to current events. This website seeks to provide historical background, regional analysis, and political and intellectual context for issues in the news, both major and minor, as long as they have a clear geographic expression. Cultural geography, particularly as expressed in matters […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":619,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-328","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nAbout GeoCurrents - GeoCurrents<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.geocurrents.info\/about\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"About GeoCurrents - GeoCurrents\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"GeoCurrents is a map-illustrated forum dedicated to global geography, especially as it relates to current events. 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