Travel Broadens the Network: Turning Points in the Network Trajectory of an American Jihadi

• In Event: Terrorism, Patterns and Trends

Abstract

Omar Hammami is a self-described “American Jihadi” who published his autobiography on the Internet in early 2012. Not long after, he was to disappear completely from the public eye, leading to speculations on his possible death. In this chapter, we draw from a social network perspective to illustrate Hammami’s journey to radicalization, using his autobiography and other sources to recreate the social structure around Hammami at six points in time, in six different locations: Daphne, Toronto, Alexandria, Mogadishu, Chiamboni and Baraawe. From these six locations, 71 contacts were extracted as part of his network at any one time, divided between family ties, friends, Jihadi brothers, Jihadi leaders, and religious /teacher contacts. The results show that Hammami’s network significantly changed from one location to the next, depending on his ability to branch out from the highly connected clique he usually integrated upon his arrival. Various turning points in his network help understand his radicalization process. Friendship and family ties in his network gradually disappeared to favor Jihadi brothers and leaders, with almost complete social isolation in the last chapter of his journey.

Authors

• Becky Nash, California State University, Long Beach

• Martin Bouchard, Simon Fraser University