Dr. Marija Đorić, Assistant Director for Scientific Research

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters, who can represent a potential security problem for the Republic of Serbia. It is believed that in the period from 2012 to 2016, more than 1,200 people from the Western Balkan region (including Serbia, as well). The fact that 49 Serbian adult citizens went to Syria (37 men and 12 women) is very important. Authors first made a distinction between the terms foreign fighters and foreign terrorist fighters, so that in the continuation of the work the focus would be on the classification of this phenomenon. Although foreign fighters appeared much earlier, the focus of this research is on the war in Syria, which involved a large number of international actors, including terrorist organizations, such as the „Islamic State”. The central part of the work is dedicated to the institutional and strategic framework of the Republic of Serbia, which deals with the prevention and fight against violent extremism and terrorism. In addition, the authors analyzed all potential phases (and at the same time the problem) of the return of foreign terrorist fighters, as well as their families in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, giving predictive analyses. The return of foreign terrorist fighters from Syria and Iraq to the territory of the Republic of Serbia can represent a kind of security problem. This phenomenon has been unknown until now, especially when it comes to group face restoration. In addition, this is not only about one category (eg terrorists), but we will also meet with women and children. Up until now, in the region, women have mostly been viewed as victims, but it should be borne in mind that individual members of the female gender can also be radicalized, which can have a negative impact on children as well, through the process of education. Due to all these facts, a multidisciplinary approach to this problem is necessary, which will involve experts from different fields.

The paper analyzes the possible connection between mental disorders and terrorism/violent extremism. Mental health is a universal human right and it is important not only for personal but also for general social development. As this topic has been very little researched, and there is a significant scientific gap, the author came to several conclusions with the help of a comparative analysis of existing empirical studies. There is a great stigmatization of people with mental illnesses, which affects the creation of certain prejudices that associate the sick with violent behavior (which is mostly incorrect). Conversely, some studies claim that mentally ill people are victims of violent behavior. Some researchers have found a link between trauma and violent extremism. In fact, trauma is often a trigger for violent extremism, and it is known that violent extremism is the first step towards the emergence of terrorism. It is very important to distinguish between certain types of terrorism and the correlation of mental illnesses. In fact, scientists are of the opinion that the tendency to mental illness is even 13.5 times higher among terrorists who act individually as lone wolves, compared to actors who are part of a terrorist group. In addition, the prevalence rate of mental illnesses among terrorists does not differ significantly compared to the general population. Radicalization that leads to violent extremism and terrorism is not a mental disorder and we cannot see it that way. An additional problem in the research of this topic is that there is no adequate cooperation between the medical profession and practitioners and theoreticians dealing with P/CVERLT, and we need to work on connecting them in order to have reliable data from this area. The conclusion is that this is still an under-researched topic due to the small number of (publicly available) empirical studies, as well as the confidentiality of the medical data of patients. In this context, each terrorist should be approached individually when assessing the mental state, although certain types of mental disorders are more common in specific types of terrorism. Attention should also be paid to the gender approach when assessing the mental health of terrorists. because there are certain differences between men and women.

*** The author extends special thanks for their expert assistance and advice during the writing of this paper to: Dr. Sci. Med. Milica Išljamović, Health Center Niš; and Clinical Assistant Dr. Robert Grujičić, Institute of Mental Health and Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade. 

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.

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.

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 Russo-Ukrainian conflict, with its geopolitical importance, goes beyond regional borders, which is why it is inevitable that we talk about it as a conflict of global proportions. The direct and/or indirect involvement of numerous countries of the world in this conflict, especially in the form of military-technical, technological, economic and economic involvement, confirms the above. The focus of our work is the military-technical aspect, i.e., the use of artificial intelligence and its importance for the present and future of warfare. In the first part of the work, artificial intelligence is conceptually defined, and then the use of artificial intelligence in the military industry is elaborated, as well as its importance in changing the conventional way of warfare. Finally, the authors deal with the use of artificial intelligence in the Ukrainian war, in order to point to a new form of arms race.

The subject of research is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on violent extremism and organized crime in the Republic of Serbia. The authors used the method of document content analysis and quantitative methods (surveys) for research purposes. The time of the research included the most intense period of the pandemic, and the authors investigated the situation in the Republic of Serbia from March 2020, when the virus was first registered, to mid-2021. The initial hypothesis in the research is that violent extremism and organized crime adapt very quickly to new social changes, which makes them resilient to many social crises. Serbia has a long history of fighting etno-separatist extremism (e.g. the KLA terrorist organization), but the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the growth of other forms of extremism, such as religious, left-wing, while special attention is focused on right-wing extremism. Namely, the authors determined that in addition to the old generators (what is the post-conflict legacy), we also have two new crucial generators of the extreme right - the COVID-19 pandemic and the migrant crisis. All the fundamental issues on which the extreme right-wingers built their ideology (such as Kosovo and Metohija, the friend-enemy dichotomy) were pushed aside during the pandemic, in order to actualize the problems concerning the "infestation of migrants", conspiracy theories, vaccinations, 5G networks and of panic fear for the survival of the nation. Organized crime also found a way to adapt to the pandemic, and some new areas appeared that criminals quickly prioritized, such as the trade-in of deficient medical equipment, falsification of PCR tests, etc. Drug trafficking was particularly intense, and the Customs Administration seized during the pandemic from 01.03.2020 to 01.08.2021 5630.53 grams of cocaine, which is 60 percent more than in 2019; 2063 grams of heroin, which is a drop to only 5 percent of the total seizure in 2019. In the same period, 1,180 tablets of ecstasy and MDMA were seized, which is five times more than in 2019, as well as 36 weapons. The conclusion is that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the change in the functioning of violent extremism and organized crime, thus confirming the initial hypothesis of the author, that these are "tough phenomena" that adapt very quickly and easily to emerging social crises. which is down to just 5 percent of total seizures in 2019. In the same period, 1,180 tablets of ecstasy and MDMA were seized, which is five times more than in 2019, as well as 36 weapons. The conclusion is that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the change in the functioning of violent extremism and organized crime, thus confirming the initial hypothesis of the author, that these are "tough phenomena" that adapt very quickly and easily to emerging social crises. which is down to just 5 percent of total seizures in 2019. In the same period, 1,180 tablets of ecstasy and MDMA were seized, which is five times more than in 2019, as well as 36 weapons. The conclusion is that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the change in the functioning of violent extremism and organized crime, thus confirming the initial hypothesis of the author, that these are "tough phenomena" that adapt very quickly and easily to emerging social crises.

In this paper, challenges most often faced by young researchers who deal with extremism are analysed. The amorphousness of this phenomenon, temporal and spatial conditionality, as well as numerous indistinctions regarding its definition, make extremism quite interesting, albeit complex for research. The author first explained the nature of the phenomenon of extremism, and then highlighted its characteristic forms and classification criteria. The paper provides explicit guidelines on how young researchers can collect data with the help of relevant research methods. The challenges most common faced by young researchers in the beginning of their research are hereby listed, as well as advice on how to overcome these challenges. The main goal of the paper is to present a realistic overview of all difficulties that researching extremism entails, but at the same time to shed light on new scientific approaches that can be useful.

In this paper, the authors research possible abuse of artificial intelligence for extremist and terrorist purposes. Having the growing digitalization and robotization of the society in mind, it is completely realistic to be expecting a growing abuse of artificial intelligence in the security context, which will definitely be abused by extremist and terrorist groups. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be divided into five basic categories: 1) interactive AI (example: personal assistants such as Siri, Cortana and Alexa); 2) functional AI (robots); 3) analytical AI (data analysis, machine learning); 4) textual AI (text recognition, conversion of speech into textual form); 5) visual AI (augmented reality technology). However, IT experts, engineers, and analysts all agree that, in the contemporary times, not a single researcher acts only within one of the previously mentioned fields, but conducts research and bases their products on an interdisciplinary approach to the said types of AI. Throughout a series of case studies, the authors analyse numerous ways in which terrorists might abuse artificial intelligence, with a special emphasis on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, that is, drones. Drones have stepped out of the phase of experimental models for conducting reconnaissance missions and entered the historical stage as a weapon on February 04, 2002, when a Predator, piloted by the hand of a member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conducted the first airstrike in Khost in Afghanistan, with the goal of eliminating Usama bin Laden. Since that moment, UAVs are present as a method of eliminating the enemy in the majority of conflicts. In this paper are contemporary trends regarding the definition of extremism and terrorism elaborated, the points of contact and the points of distancing between them are determined, followed by a detailed analysis of examples of abuse of drones by terrorist organizations, such as the so-called “Islamic State” and “Hezbollah”, as well as the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. The main purpose of the paper is to estimate the danger extremists and terrorists pose to the contemporary society in the context of abuse of artificial intelligence. The conclusion is that, in the coming future, extremists will more and more use artificial intelligence for conducting their activities, including terrorist attacks.

In this paper, the authors analyzed the extent of impact of the Saudi Coalition on the internal political, and consequentally the national security of Yemen. The innitial goal of this research is the analysis of motives of Saudi Arabia for engaging in the civil war in Yemen, with the final goal of identifying the results of interventionist activities of the Saudi Coalition in the field, as well as the unforeseeable negative changes in the political and security situation in this country. With the use of content analysis, the autors expressed the discourse propagated by all actor included in the Yemeni conflict – the internationally recognized government, the Southern Transitional Council and the Houthis, as well as the official discourse of the Saudi Coalition, with the goal of expressing the extent of the significance of foreign medling, as well as its impact on the Yemeni national security. By presenting the active actors, as well as the well-hidden ones, such as Iran, the authors tracked the roots of the idea of a foreign military intervention in Yemen, as well as the consequences it had for the Yemeni people.In the end, the authors confirmed that not only that the intervention impacted human security in the country, but also that the support given to the STC, as well as ignoring the political context of the problem, caused a rebirth of ethno-separatist aspirations, which might further hinder the Yemeni national security.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relation between the concepts of violence and nonviolence in the political theory. How these two concepts are correlated? Where is the dividing line between violence and nonviolence? By analysing some theoretical presuppositions of violence and nonviolence the author seeks to contribute to the scope of the political theory. Rather than presenting an anthology of different definitions of the violence and nonviolence, the intention of this article is to analyse different definitional criteria proposed by social scientists. In this regard, it will be first analysed the concept of violence in political theory. The analysis will be focused on the correlation between violence and power, force and aggression, as well as on the typologies of violence. Then, it will be analysed the concept of nonviolence and its relation with the concept of violence. The author concludes that violence and nonviolence are intertwined within the human society and thus create a dialectic circle.

This paper focuses on an analysis of political and scientific reflections by academic Mihailo Marković, with special review of the links existing between ideology and science. Unlike ideology, whose scope is limited in terms of value and science, Mihailo Marković regards philosophy as a science open to all humankind. A prominent place in Marković’s research belonged to the conservative ideology and in this context, distinction was made between the conservative spirit in its broader sense, manifested in its views on art, creation and all other segments of life and conservatism as an ideological and political position. The aim of this paper is to explore Mihailo Marković's approach to the value system proposed by conservative ideology, leading to the author’s conclusion that Marković had an objectively critical approach in his analysis of conservatism. Marković discovered a humanistic alternative to all forms of conservatism, proposing radical democratic socialism as a appropriate substitute model.

Classical paradigms characterize left-oriented governments as being more interventionist in the economy than right-oriented ones. Nevertheless, many factors have influenced economic policy changes in modern parties. The paper first gives a literary review of parties’ orientation towards intervention in the economy. Secondly, a comparative analysis of economic policies is done for selected developed economies, combining the governments’ left-right composition with trends in their economic freedom. Finally, the paper summarizes main similarities and differences between left and right governments as to economic interventionism. The aim of the paper is to show how different economic policies with regard to market restrictiveness should change traditional perceptions of ideological inclination to economic interventionism. Our findings underscore the need for building a new ‘economic ideology’ map, as complement to traditional party classifications.