22Sep/20

Hybrid Conflicts and Information Warfare: New Labels, Old Politics

Academic, , , ,

Edited by Ofer Fridman, Vitaly Kabernik, and James C. Pearce (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2019), 271 pages. Book Review

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Nir Boms (2020) Hybrid Conflicts and Information Warfare: New Labels, Old Politics, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs,  DOI: 10.1080/23739770.2020.1815959


Hybrid Conflicts and Information Warfare, edited by Ofer Freidman (Kings College, London), Vitaly Kabernik (Moscow State Institute for International Relations), and James C. Pearce (Angila Ruskin University), focuses on an especially timely aspect of the nature of modern-day war and conflict. There are more than forty active conflicts around the world today involving sixty-four countries and, according to one source, no less than 576 militias and separatist groups.

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22Sep/20

The Syria conflict: Latest developments

Middle East, Syria, , ,

Before it began, 2020 was assessed to be the last year of the Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011. This turned out to be either wishful thinking or an overly optimistic assumption which fell victim to the Coronavirus. As the year approaches its end, the conflict is still there, with most of the same domestic and foreign actors – the Assad regime and its opposition, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Israel, the United States and various Jihadi groups. What are the military and political pictures?

Panel: – Jonathan Hessen, Host.

– Amir Oren, Analyst.

– Prof. Zeev Khanin, Expert on Russian and Middle Eastern Studies, Bar Ilan and Ariel Universities.

– Dr. Nir Boms, Research Fellow, Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.

17Sep/20

Does Abraham Accord Mark a Middle Eastern Paradigm Shift or is It Gulf States’ Short-Term Strategy?

Middle East, , , ,
Palestinians burn cutouts depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against the United Arab Emirates' deal with Israel to normalise relations, in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank August 14, 2020.

Sputnik News Agency

The UAE and Bahrain have become the third and fourth Arab nations to reconcile with Israel: on 13 August, Abu Dhabi confirmed its willingness to normalise relations with the Jewish state, while on 11 September, Manama jumped on the bandwagon. International observers have discussed how the agreements may affect the balance of power in the region.

On Tuesday, two Gulf monarchies, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, are due to sign the Abraham Accord, a formal peace treaty with Israel, at the White House. US President Donald Trump, who brokered the deal, will preside over the signing ceremony.

Abraham Accord Presents a New Alternative for the Region

“The agreement is very significant”, says Dr Nir Boms, a research fellow at the Moshe Dayan Centre at Tel Aviv University. “I think it will be deeper than the previous agreements in comparison with what we have with Egypt or Jordan. It will be deeper because it’s not just a political agreement – it’s an agreement that has a very strong civic component to it”.

Boms highlights that the groundwork for the peace accords with the two Gulf monarchies was laid over recent years:  “The normalization that is now attributed to Abraham has always existed: over 5,000 Israel companies have already been operating in the Gulf”, he says.

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25Aug/20

Israel’s rapprochement with the Arab world

Middle East, UAE

SA week after the United Arab Emirates and Israel announced their intention to normalize their relations and bring them from the practical level to an official one, there are mixed ramifications. More and more Arabian Gulf regimes react favorably and may soon follow suit, yet in Israel’s immediate vicinity, in Gaza, it is far from quiet, regardless of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s freeze on his plan to extend Israel’s sovereignty towards the Jordan River.

Panel: – Jonathan Hessen, Host. – Amir Oren, Analyst. – Dr. Nir Boms, Research Fellow, Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University (Istanbul, Turkey). – Dr. Joshua Krasna, Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (Central Israel) & Lecturer on Mideast Security at NYU.