| 3P | Public Private Partnership |
| AnkER | Ankunfts-, Entscheidungs- und Rückführungszentren (AnkER stands for arrival centers for asylum seekers, decision on asylum applications, and repatriation of rejected asylum seekers) |
| AQIM | Al- Qeada in Islamic Maghreb |
| BA | Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency) |
| BAMF | Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (Federal Office for Migration and Refugees) |
| BMZ | Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development) |
| C2 | Command and Control |
| CAH | Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis |
| CDU | Christlich Demokratische Union Deutlschlands (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) |
| CEAS | Common European Asylum System |
| CEFR | Common European Framework of Reference for Languages |
| CFSP | Common Foreign and Security Policy |
| ISB | Staatsinstitut für Schulqualität und Bildungsforschung (State Institute for School Quality and Educational Research) |
| ISF | Internal Security Forces (Mali) |
| CIA | Central Intelligence Agency |
| CSS | Collège Sahélien de Sécurité (Sahelian Security Council) |
| CSU | Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern (Christian Social Union in Bavaria) |
| EC | European Communities |
| ECOWAS | Economic Community of West African States |
| EUCAP | EU Capacity Building Mission in Mali |
| EUTM | European Union Training Mission |
| FDP | Freie Demokratische Partei Deutschlands (Free Democratic Party) |
| FIT | Front Islamique Tunisien (Tunisian Islamic Front) |
| G5S | G5 du Sahel or G5 Sahel (Security Cooperation Group emcompassing five Sahel countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger) |
| GDR | German Democratic Republic |
| GIA | Groupe Islamique Armé (Armed Islamic Group) |
| GNI | Gross National Income |
| GSPC | Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat) |
| ICG | International Crisis Group |
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria | |
| MINUSMA | Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation au Mali (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali) |
| MSA | Modern Standard Arabic |
| MUJWA | Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa |
| ODA | Official Development Assistance |
| PCI | Partito Comunista Italiano (Italian Communist Party) |
| Pegida | Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the Occident) |
| PLO | Palestine Liberation Organisation |
| POW | Prisoner of War |
| PSI | Pan Sahel Initiative |
| SCPR | Syrian Center for Policy Research |
| SPD | Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) |
| TSCTI | Trans- Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative |
| TSTI | Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative |
| TWAIL | Third World Approaches to International Law |
| UN | United Nations |
| VBIED | Vehicle-Borne Improved Explosive Device |
| WMD | Weapon of Mass Destruction |
| ZPD | Zone of Proximal Development |