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Changing borders in a changing region: the civilian dimension and security predicament along the Syrian-Israeli border

The Syrian civil war – which has largely ended following bloody 8 years – serves as a prime case study of mechanisms which challenge border realities, as well as geography and demography, through engagement of manifold internal and external actors. This article discusses these processes and their implications by focusing on the Syro-Israeli borderland. It analyses the main actors and their motives, geography of interactions, as well as implications for humanitarian situation and security considerations. It is argued that while the dynamics in the Syro-Israeli borderland have several unique characteristics, they also point to a broader process of re-drawing borderlands and lines of influence in the Middle East region.

Boms,Nir & Zielińska Karolina (2019) Changing borders in a changing region: the civilian dimension and security predicament

along the Syrian-Israeli border, Israel Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2019.1626090

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An Iranian mud dilemma

Inaction, on the other hand, will place the public focus on the beleaguered economy and foreign military adventures, two issues that have already brought Iranians to the streets.

By NIR BOMS, SHAYAN ARYA

May 21, 2019 22:11

The US policy on Iran, marked by the withdrawal one year ago from the nuclear agreement known as JCPOA, is continuing a path of pressure: renewal of sanctions; designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization; and the recent increase in military preparedness for a possible confrontation with the Islamic republic. While Iran reciprocated, with its own designation of the US Army as a terrorist organization and by issuing a nuclear ultimatum to Europe, the Islamic regime finds these unprecedented moves enormously frustrating. In this fragile state of affairs, a miscalculation by Iran could possibly ignite the flames of a war that no one wants.
 

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Thoughts about the Israeli “snap elections”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves after a vote to dissolve the Israeli parliament, also known as the Knesset, in Jerusalem December 8, 2014

Israeli lawmakers voted last Wednesday to dissolve the parliament, paving the way for the snap elections, as the deadline has passed for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government coalition. The new elections were scheduled for September 17.

Sputnik discussed the dissolution of Israel’s legislative body with Dr Nir Boms, a research fellow from the Moshe Dayan Centre at Tel Aviv University and the coordinator of the TAU Workshop on Israel and the Middle East.

Sputnik: The Knesset will be dissolved for the first time in Israel’s 71-year history as a state. How significant is that?

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