EACH NATION’S ARK ON THE WAVES OF NEW “MIGRATION FLOOD”. ROMANIA’S INSTITUTIONAL AND CULTURAL PREPAREDNESS
EACH NATION’S ARK ON THE WAVES OF NEW “MIGRATION FLOOD”. ROMANIA’S INSTITUTIONAL AND CULTURAL PREPAREDNESS

Summary/Abstract: The current paper approaches a topic of maximum relevance for regional and national security: the effects of migratory waves from the conflict zones of the Middle East on Romania’s capacity to adapt to the dynamics of illegal cross-border flows. It has been revealed as a particular reflection of the subject of a broad research on the Islamic State (Daesh) and the impact of its actions on global/regional/national security. Under these circumstances, the present paper approaches aspects related to one of the major effects of the actions performed by the Islamic State: the displacement of migratory waves from the Middle East conflict zones and their absorption in Europe. At the same time, the paper focuses on Romania’s role in the migration crisis, as a disjunctive element in rapport with the topic of the broad research, analyzing the cultural impact of the immigration phenomenon. Despite a rich and diverse specialized literature, from the perspective of its approach to the effects that immigration produces in Europe (focusing on political, cultural, religious and economic aspects), especially numerous articles expressing mainly the European version of the matter, the researchers belonging to the transit or target-countries, the immigration phenomenon is not the subject of a thorough cultural and security analysis in the Romanian academic environment. Starting from this premise and from the original purpose of the research - the analysis of the effects of the Islamic State actions - we opted for a thorough research, involving the use of qualitative research methods: the semi-structured interview with specialists and the participatory observation, engaging equally political decision-makers, diplomats, religious leaders, academics (national security specialists), intelligence analysts, opinion makers. The deep-dive interview, conducted in Romanian, Arabic or English, with 31 subjects covering the above mentioned areas of expertise, with experience in national security, over 50 years of age, coming from Europe and the Middle East but also from the United States of America or Africa (Romanian, Turkish, Dutch, Syrian, Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, American), Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim or Mosaic Christians provide a comprehensive reading that is appropriate to the need for a deep knowledge of a phenomenon holding great implications for global, regional and national security. Through this article, which involves a multifaceted and complex approach to the immigration phenomenon as a Euro-Atlantic security dimension, as defined by the National Defense Strategy for the period 2015-2019 (2015: 13), we intend to offer a complex framework of analysis consistent with the promotion of legal migration, while reducing the security risks involved.

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