CONTEMPORARY TERRORISM - THEORETICAL DIMENSION AND EVOLUTION OF THE PHENOMENON (Wspólczesny terroryzm - wymiar teoretyczny i ewolucja zjawiska)

The aim of the article is to highlight the crucial issues related to the concept of terrorism in political sciences. First, the notion of terrorism is defined. Next a dichotomy between two basic modes of perceiving terrorism is shown that raises the most controversy among scholars since it touches upon such issues as the evolution of terrorism and its causes. Also the evolution of the causes of terrorism is presented with emphasis on the major quantifiers of this phenomenon, and the duration of modern terrorism has been divided into stages dominated by particular ideological trends. Analysis of those trends focuses mainly on similarities and differences between them in order to verify the functioning myths.