Mapping (EKC Phase 2)

Mapping is the second analytical phase of the Economic Kill Chain, in which collected information is organised into a provisional model of actors, relationships, dependencies and uncertainties. It is an enabling method, not an attack. Where reconnaissance gathers observations, mapping tests how those observations might support a decision and what remains unknown.

Mechanism

Mapping builds a system-of-systems picture from nodes and links. Nodes include central banks, commercial banks, exchange operators, commodity traders, and financial service providers. Links include correspondent banking relationships, SWIFT messaging routes, settlement infrastructure, and currency conversion facilities. Analysts overlay supply chains, beneficial ownership structures, FX exposure, debt maturity profiles, and reserve composition to construct the full topology.

The analytical foundation is weaponised interdependence theory. Farrell and Newman's two effects, the panopticon effect (surveillance through hub control) and the chokepoint effect (denial through hub control), tell the mapper what to look for: the dollar clearing system, SWIFT, and international correspondent banking are the primary chokepoints of global finance. Mapping also distinguishes direct vulnerabilities (immediate exposure to the acting state) from systemic vulnerabilities (exposure through third-party connections). Qatar's food import dependency on a single land border was direct; Russia's need to convert dollar oil revenue through Western banking infrastructure was systemic.

Application

A map should record provenance, confidence and collection gaps for every material node and edge. It should separate observed transactions from inferred control, legal ownership from operational influence, and network centrality from vulnerability. Privacy, jurisdiction and data-quality constraints apply before the output feeds positioning or a targeting model. The quality of the map bounds downstream analysis, but a detailed diagram does not prove causal leverage or authorise action.

See also

Economic Kill Chain (EKC) · Reconnaissance (EKC Phase 1) · Positioning (EKC Phase 3) · Weaponised interdependence · Chokepoint effect · Financial intelligence (FININT) · Vulnerability assessment (target susceptibility) · Targeting model · Economic statecraft

Sources

• Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett, *Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences* (MIT Press, 2005).
• Joint Chiefs of Staff, *Assessment and Risk* (2020; accessed 30 July 2026).
• Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman, "Weaponized Interdependence", International Security 44, no. 1 (2019).
• Mark Newman, *Networks* (Oxford University Press, second edition, 2018).