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

• We use a sample of 395 terrorist groups to model participation in the drug trade.
• We highlight the role of an innovative form of two-mode network analysis.
• We advance research capabilities to suggest new substantive insights.
• We show how network modeling complements Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).

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.