<
https://theconversation.com/the-cold-war-maps-that-can-help-us-rethink-todays-arctic-conflict-274058>
"The late 1940s and early 1950s were a golden age for polar mapmaking in the
US. Major magazines such as
Time,
Life and
Fortune commissioned a
generation of famous cartographers – who had come of age in the second world
war – to explain the new geopolitics to a mass audience that was highly engaged
after the catastrophic global conflict they had just lived through.
Their maps were large, dramatic and designed to be spread across kitchen tables
and classroom desks. And they also offered a very different perspective to the
mainstream maps we have become accustomed to today.
I’ve spent the past four years unearthing maps from the late 1940s and early
1950s to research a book about a largely forgotten map library at my
university, and I am always struck by how consequential they feel to the global
arguments of their era. Not least because they invited debate from their
readers who were asked to become global strategists by discussing the next
moves in the game of geopolitics.
These maps didn’t just illustrate the world – they implored people to think
about it differently. As the world enters a new period of international
relations and global tensions, it’s worth considering the different
perspectives maps can offer us.
With each new US foreign policy intervention – such as the US president’s
current preoccupation with taking over Greenland – I have often wondered if
these maps of global adversaries could have percolated into a young Trump’s
mind. The world must have seemed a menacing place and it is shown on these maps
as a series of threats and opportunities to be gamed, with the “Arctic arena”
as a major venue."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
