Network Topography, Key Players and Terrorist Networks

In recent years social network analysis (SNA) has enhanced our understanding of how terrorist networks organize themselves and has offered potential strategies for their disruption. To date, however, SNA research of terrorist networks has tended to focus on key actors within the network who score high in terms of centrality or whose structural location (i.e., their location within the overall network) allows them to broker information and/or resources within the network. However, while such a focus is intuitively appealing and can provide short-term satisfaction, it may be putting the cart before the horse. Before jumping to the identification of key actors, we need to first explore a network’s overall topography. Research suggests that networks that are too provincial (i.e., dense, high levels of clustering, an overabundance of strong ties) too cosmopolitan (i.e., sparse, low levels of clustering, an overabundance of weak ties), too hierarchical (i.e., centralized, low levels of variance) and/or too heterarchical (i.e., decentralized, high levels of variance) tend not to perform as well as networks that maintain a balance between these extremes. If these dynamics hold true for terrorist networks as well, then the key player approach may be appropriate in some circumstances, but may lead to deleterious results in others. More importantly, it suggests that analysts need to consider a network’s overall topography before crafting strategies for their disruption. Authors Sean F Everton, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Defense Analysis Department at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He is also the Co-Director of the Common Operational Research Environment (CORE) Lab, which is part of the Defense Analysis Department and specializes in the application of new analytical methodologies (e.g., social network and geospatial analysis) to the crafting of strategies at the operational and tactical levels. While most of his work focuses on social network analysis, he has also published in the areas of sociology of religion, economic sociology, and political and social