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The author analyzes all the roles that women can play in modern terrorism. Until now, science has mostly focused on the role of women as perpetrators and victims in terrorist activities. However, the author also pays special attention to the third role of a woman, which has not been sufficiently investigated so far - as a mothers. Viewing the role of women as mothers in terrorism has a dual character: while on the one hand, mothers can play a significant role in the prevention of terrorism (especially with sons), on the other hand they can also encourage their children in terms of terrorist activities, especially if they are and radicalized ones. The author gives a series of examples that specifically concern Islamist terrorism and the role of the mother in preventing or encouraging this phenomenon. The role of a woman as a mother has not been explored to a large extent in other forms of terrorism, which would represent a significant contribution for future scientific research. Also, this role of the mother is mainly related to certain so-called conservative regions, such as the Balkans or the Middle East, where the role of the mother is specific, especially in the upbringing of male children. Numerous prejudices are a complicating factor in elaborating the role of women in terrorism. One of them is that women are exclusively members of the "gentler" and "weaker" sex, and that as such they cannot be linked to terrorism. Another prejudice that is rooted in human society concerns the gender relationship to politics. Namely, since ancient Greece, politics was explicitly seen as a public job and a "male activity", while women were reserved for the oikos, as a private sphere. Hence, terrorism as a political phenomenon is mostly seen as a "male phenomenon." The subject of the research is directed towards different ideologies of terrorism, which condition accordingly, and different approaches towards women. The author points out that just as terrorism does not know race, religion and nation, it does not know gender either, and that attention should also be paid to the gender dimension when researching this phenomenon.

The paper analyzes the negative perception of the Balkans, with special reference to the Western Balkans, as a newly introduced political concept. The author explains the historical and political environment through which the negative image of the Balkans is built, indicating that this region was separated and precipitated as "otherness" in relation to Europe. Based on that analogy, the author explains how the Western Balkans now find themselves in a position of "otherness" in relation to the rest of the Balkan countries (which have become articles of the EU). The violent past, the "curse of small differences" and unresolved political conflicts make the Western Balkans a problematic region under the watchful eye of major powers. The point where the interests of all the countries of the Western Balkans can coincide is European integration, which indicates the "common destiny" of this region.

Extremism as a social phenomenon is extremely dynamic - it is conditioned not only by time and space, but also by a constellation of different socio-political relationships. The paper deals with the analysis of the most important trends in contemporary forms of extremism, with a special focus on existing security challenges. The author first elaborated all the controversies that are related to the problem of defining extremism and familiar phenomena, in order to continue the work to point out the following trends that affect the change in the perception of modern forms of extremism, such as: the influence of modern technique and technology, the "individualization" of extremism, ideological controversies and the gender approach to the study of this phenomenon. The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), 3D printed weapons, hybrid ideologies, the multiplication of communication in the online space and the change of methods and means of action are just some of the contemporary challenges that benefit extremists, while at the same time making it difficult for theorists and practitioners in this field. We should not forget the intensification of the gender issue (and gender approach) in the context of extremism, because there are more and more misogynistic extremist organizations, while the role of women in the context of extremism is still contradictory. The research methods are based on document content analysis, case studies and comparative analyses. The conclusion is that modern violent extremism is a dynamic phenomenon, which must be constantly monitored, if we want to identify its changes, and therefore draw certain lessons, which would enable successful prevention (PVE).

The subject matter of research in this paper is theoretical controversy related to the definition of right-wing extremism. Given the fact that extremism is a variable, amorphous and insufficiently researched phenomenon, largely conditioned by time, space, political and cultural differences, there is a great confusion in the field of political science when defining right-wing extremism. The problem of researching right-wing extremism is additionally complicated by various terms that are being used in the contemporary literature as its synonyms, such as right-wing radicalism, neo-Fascism, ultra-radicalism, etc. In order to provide the most valid theoretical determination of right-wing extremism, the author provides a detailed analysis of all the components constituting this phenomenon and examines their causality. In the political praxis, the term extremism is extensively abused, which additionally complicates its determination. Videlicet, politicians often use term 'extremist' in order to discredit their political opponents. While during the French revolution aristocracy saw the bourgeoisie as extremists, the members of the working class later stated that the bourgeoisie were extremists. The problem lies in the fact that, in politics, extremists are not only the ones who use violence as modus operandi; indeed, it is also used by political opponents who do not belong to the extreme political option. Another aggravating factor in defining right-wing extremism is that many administrative and academic definitions do not make a clear distinction between extremism and related phenomena, such as terrorism, radicalism and populism. Extremism is most often equaled with terrorism, which gives rise to another problem in defining this phenomenon. The relation between extremism and terrorism is the relation of general and specific. Namely, every act of terrorism is concurrently considered to be an act of extremism, but not vice versa, given the fact that every act of extremism does not lead towards a higher level of political violence (i.e. towards terrorism). Even in the terms of legal sanctioning, it is much easier to incriminate terrorism in comparison to extremism. The Serbian criminal legislation envisages relevant punishment for committing an act of terrorism, without even mentioning extremism, which implies that there is no penalty prescribed for committing an act of extremism. Despite numerous academic and administrative definitions on the concept of extremism, there is still a lack of a balanced approach to defining right-wing extremism, which is also largely conditioned by political definitions. The most prominent problem in addressing the social phenomena such as right-wing extremism lies in the fact that these social phenomena are dynamic and, in order to be analysed in a scientifically objective manner, they must be examined in the specific temporal, spatial and socio-political context.