For researchers of political phenomenons, one of the most attractive phenomenons in research has been modern terrorism. Moreover, the research and defining of terrorism is of first rate political significance, as the USA and a number of other states imperiled by terrorism are pointing out that the battle against terrorism is a first rate political goal for international community. However, still in international circles there has not been a definition of terrorism that would be accepted as a standard one, although within the OUN there have been some moves forward in that direction as far as time goes back. There are various reasons for that, and many among them are related to so-called problems in defining terrorism. Analysis of such problems has confirmed that terrorism indeed is a very complex and extremely developmental phenomenon which consists of a number of various forms in appearance. In addition, its defining has been obstructed by: ignorance and unfamiliarity of the phenomenon itself, its conceptual mesh with related models of political violence, arising of emotions while defining it, and, in particular, political interest of those who define it, as well as a number of other, less obvious, but not less important factors.Savremeni terorizam je jedan od najatraktivnijih fenomena za istraživače političkih pojava. Osim toga, istraživanje i definisanje terorizma je od prvorazredne političke važnosti budući da SAD i niz drugih zemalja koje su ugrožene terorizmom postavljaju pred međunarodnu zajednicu borbu protiv terorizma kao prvorazredni politički cilj. I pored toga, još nije međunarodno prihvaćena neka definicija terorizma kao opštevažeća, mada se u okvirima OUN već odavno radi na tome. Razlozi za to su brojni, a mnogi od njih spadaju u takozvane probleme definisanja terorizma. Analiza tih problema potvrđuje da je terorizam veoma složen i izrazito razvojan fenomen koji ima niz pojavno raznovrsnih formi, ali i to da njegovo definisanje ometaju: nepoznavanje fenomena, pojmovna isprepletenost sa srodnim oblicima političkog nasilja prisutnost emocija pri definisanju, a naročito politički interesi onih koji ga definišu, kao i niz drugih, manje uočljivih, mada ne i manje bitnih faktora
