Boko Haram is no regular terrorist organization; although not as widely-known as the Islamic State or Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram has been declared the deadliest terror group of 2014. Fortunately, the organization seems to currently be on the run; and the successes of the Nigerian government in countering it have been founded on a timely understanding of its modus operandi. This paper represents an inventory and an analysis of the main tactics employed by Boko Haram in Nigeria and Cameroon during the spike of its insurgence, between the years 2009-2014. Acknowledging these tactics in a timely manner did not only contribute in a significant manner to the present defeat of Boko Haram, as it may also be of use to governments from other countries in anticipating and efficiently thwarting future terrorist plots.

Even though at a lower intensity from its 2015-2016 top, the migration crisis at the southern borders of the European Union is far from being over. But as it succeeds the military operation EUNAVFOR MED Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea, the new operation EUNAVFOR MED Irini has a very different mandate, focusing less on the migration events happening in the international waters and more on the United Nations arms embargo on Libya. Using as scientific tools the qualitative analysis of social documents and the exploratory case study, this paper argues that EUNAVFOR MED Irini, the newest military operation of the European Union, does not reflect the same level of the organisation’s commitment to address the core causes that continue to generate the flow of illegal migrants.

The European Union’s military operations represent and essential vector in implementing the priorities of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy that was signed in 2007, as an official acknowledgement of the geographical, historical and cultural relations between the two continents. In its’ pursuing of a strengthened profile in the EU, Romania has been a constant contributor to such military initiatives. Therefore, in this paper we review the national contribution to the ongoing military operations conducted by the European Union in Africa, presenting and analysing relevant data regarding the deployment of Romanian troops in such faraway regions.

Having won the legislative elections in Greece on January 25, 2015

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