Math helps to find terrorists
Game theory can be helpful to identify important terrorists, say Tilburg University researchers Herbert Hamers, Bart Husslage en Roy Lindelauf. They plead for the introduction and use of game theory to analyze terrorist networks.
The Tilburg researchers went a step further than the analysis so far been used, and claim their method makes more accurate rankings in networks. They studied personal information of the suspects in the Bali and U.S. attacks, for example, how often they attended certain meetings or places, or whether they participated in training camps. Also the extent of radicalization was investigated. This information was derived from, among other things, the glorification of martyrdom and suicide testaments.
By combining this data with game theory other suspects were uncovered who earlier, with existing methods, seemed insignificant. This way the researchers were able to make rankings of terrorists in their networks. According to the researchers game theory increases the chances of catching important terrorists.
