2 questions, one about distance and the other about DoW

The AI decides about war largely on military might.

Ok I can buy that but why out of all that land does it put 3 factions within 30 squares of each other?

Every map has pre-set possible starting positions, and it tends to pick one for the player and then move outwards (or that was how it use to be and it sounds like nothing has changed). The only solution is to use a map with all starting spaces spread out.

Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing about faction starting locations.  I'm relatively new to the game and playing on normal.  I've been trying to setup games with medium maps and 6 factions.  It seems like they pack all the factions into a relatively small percentage of the map.  In one example, they placed me so close to another faction that our capital city borders touched within a few turns.  I met 5 of the 6 all very early and we were all compressed into probably less than 20% of the map.  This makes no sense to me.  In Civ, faction capitals are pretty well spaced apart (give or take).

Does anyone have any tips for setting up a game in which the factions are more spread out?  Are there certain maps that are better at this than others?  Should I drop down to 4 factions total on a medium map, or perhaps go to a large one?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Make a custom map with only as many starting places as players.

This is because the maps have a plethora of starting positions - the luck of the draw randomness could mean all near you with nothing on the other side of the map. I too recommend editing a map to reflect the number of starting positions to players desired, place them where you want them, and nuke all others. I hope this helps.

Actually it is not 100% random, it is weighted towards cramming players together (or it was and that still seems to be the case). Your position is random. Then it runs through the list of enemies and selects them randomly and puts them in places that are selected by how far it is from you. Or that is how I remember it being said to work.

 I've never completely revealed the map in any game I've played yet. I came close once(when I made the effort) but generally, when I win, it ends with about 40% of the map uncovered because of the starting places of the AI and myself.

Thanks for the tips.  I guess I'm more of an explore/city-builder player.  Ideally I like to be able to found 3-5 cities before really bumping up against other's borders.  I do think the algorithm is a bit strange if they purposely choose to cram most factions close together and then leave the majority of the map empty.  Oh well, to each his/her own.

Ahh, thanks for the clarification.