Cascading effect and research in security systems’ operation

The National Security System of the Republic of Poland and relevant operational systems operate in complex systems of challenges, chances, and threats of the XXI century. Relations which exist between them complicate cognitive processes in multiple interpretational contexts (e.g., in epidemic conditions). The theory of cascading effect provides a valuable epistemological framework for analysis of security systems operations. It rejects simplifications in favor of real dependencies conditioning reality in its full complexity. This paper presents the basic assumptions of the theory of cascading effect. The implications of the implementation of this theory in the field of security studies were shown, with particular emphasis on the issue of the functioning of security systems. Perspective directions of scientific research in this field were also indicated.