Network Analysis

Abstract

Proliferation is not a matter of a single transaction, strategic good, duped manufacturer, or bad actor. WMD and weapon system capabilities are complex constructions requiring a wide range of equipment, materials, technical knowledge, willing and unwitting accomplices, and opportunity. Proliferation needs a network. As described in Chap. 5 on scripting, illicit strategic trade is not necessarily hierarchical but is a web of actions that may be repeated across individual criminal acts and involvement of diverse entities from manufacturers, banks, logistics and transport companies, state-run organizations, and governments (Albright et al. 2020). Network analysis shifts the focus from the entities themselves to the relationships between entities. Most of the STA methods thus far have been focused on identifying individual instances of illicit behavior, primarily between the exporter, importer, and possibly some entities involved in transshipment/re-export. Network analysis broadens the scope by