Author(s)

Agus Surya Bakti¹, Hafied Cangara¹, Dwia Aries Tina Palubuhu¹, Eriyanto  ²

¹Universitas Hasanuddin, Makassar, Indonesia.
²Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.

This article discusses the study of communication networks of ISIS groups in Indonesia located in three major cities (Poso, Jakarta, and Surabaya) using the Structural Holes theory to formulate a strategy to prevent ISIS terrorism by focusing on the integration of the role of the most important actor (tertius) as an alternative to counter terrorism to the Indonesian government. This research uses mixed methods research; it is a procedure for collecting, analyzing, and mixing quantitative and qualitative methods in a study or series of studies to understand the research problem and to measure the level of cohesion of ISIS network members and view their network map; the data in the network using data analysis method processed with UCINET-Draw. The finding of study that ISIS terror threat still needs to be watched out for, including by the Indonesian government. ISIS is known as a network terrorist group (net-terrorism) that moves through the network, therefore a study that focuses on the network is needed to dissect the ISIS group and then determine the pattern of handling it so that it does not become a threat to the community. In this case, the Indonesian government can play the role of tertius who stands in an integrated position to exploit the flow of information in the ISIS network in Indonesia in the context of preventing terrorism. In this context, as tertius, the government can carry out its function in fewer than two conditions, namely: when there is competition between two parties fighting for the same information, the tertius can act as controller by determining who will be given the information. Second, if both parties are in a conflict position, tertius can change the role of being a mediator whose function is to find a resolution to reduce conflict and share information as much as possible according to their respective portions.

Tertius, ISIS, Terrorism, Social Network Strategy, Tertius Strategy

Bakti, A. , Cangara, H. , Palubuhu, D. and  , E. (2022) Tertius Integration for Isis Terrorism Prevention in Indonesia: A Study of Structural Holes Theory. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 72-83. doi: 10.4236/jss.2022.101006.