Kritická studia terorismu: přehodnocení jeho hrozby?

This article reviews four books about terrorism, in particular about our reaction to this phenomenon and the response of Western civilization. Through the pages of these books the author presents a critical approach to terrorism, and stresses its main topics. Firstly, the article focuses on how big the terrorism threat is, provides some data, and offers the idea of overreaction. Further, it deals with the perception of terrorism and factors which have an impact on it, e.g. psychological mechanisms and the culture of fear. Afterwards, it proposes an alternative approach to how to respond to terrorism and to avoid negative outcomes. Finally, the author summarizes the contributions of each of the books and explains why it is worth reading them. There is no doubt about terrorism being a real threat. However, the threat is being exaggerated and the overreaction to terrorism is more destructive than terrorism itself, having the potential to transform into state terrorism.