Abstract:
To more accurately understand the impact of the assassination of former Prime
Minister Benazir Bhutto on the democratization movement in Pakistan, this thesis study
provides a network-oriented analysis of those individuals associated with her either
personally, as participants in the movement, or in some other non-obvious way. By using
publicly available news sources and data visualization software, this thesis shows the
shape of the social network and identifies change agents, opinion leaders, and other
actors and groups who might play key roles in the network.
The analysis reveals what effect her assassination has had on the shape of the
democratization network and on the network’s ability to recover, grow, and develop in
order to advance the cause of democracy in Pakistan. While many individuals and small
groups became detached from the network when the former Prime Minister was
assassinated, based solely on topology, the surviving network showed no signs of
imminent collapse or weakness.
The subject of this study is intentionally narrow, but the implications and
applications of this type of network-oriented analysis in the field of conflict analysis and
resolution are numerous. By making use of well-known and widely accepted network
theories, together with software tools and algorithms to visualize relationships between
individuals and groups, researchers and practitioners can better understand what happens
when key individuals and groups are added to or removed from a network. Will the
network collapse? Can it repair itself? Will it grow at an increased or decreased rate?
Answers to these types of questions form a basis of understanding that can help
researchers and practitioners decide what tactical or strategic adjustments might be
needed to continue or expand conflict resolution efforts and interventions, or perhaps to
even anticipate conflict escalation.
