Comparative configurational analysis as a two-mode network problem: A study of terrorist group engagement in the drug trade

We generalize a form of two-mode network analysis to make it applicable to a cases-by-variables data format, and apply our approach for the study of terrorist group engagement in the drug trade, emphasizing the implications of our approach for policy in a study of 395 terrorist organizations. Based on the organizations’ levels of resources, network connectivity to other groups, ideological emphasis, and participation in multiple illicit economies, we identify several distinctive configurations of factors that lead to multiple types of drug activity. We also demonstrate a technique for assessing sampling variability in configurational models.