The London Bombers as “Self-Starters”: A Case Study in Indigenous Radicalization and the Emergence of Autonomous Cliques

The emergence of “self-starter” cells represents a distinct and significant development in the post–9/11 era. These autonomous groups share an ideological affinity with the original Al Qaeda network, but they operate in the absence of any institutionalized training or recruitment. As demonstrated by the case of the London bombers, conventional conceptions of “networks” are ill-suited to analyze groups of this nature. A broader range of sociological models are necessary to deconstruct how and why they form. This phenomenon must be examined with reference to the Internet as an operational tool and “democratizer of violence.”