Saturday, 25 July, 2026

About Us

Dr. Boms

Nir T. Boms

Dr. Boms is a writer, researcher and commentator on Middle East Affairs.

Dr. Nir Boms is a researcher, educator, and policy expert specializing in the Middle East, regional cooperation, and conflict resolution. He serves as the Director of the TAU Workshop on Israel and the Middle East at Tel Aviv University and is the founder of the Program for Regional Cooperation and the Gulf Israel Policy Forum. He is affiliated with several international institutions, including the International Institute for Counter Terrorism and the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations. Dr. Boms also co-founded initiatives promoting dialogue and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians. He earned his doctorate from the University of Haifa, focusing on the impact of information technology on civic society in Syria and Iran. He also holds master’s degrees in Political Science and Judaic Studies from the University of Maryland. Currently, he teaches at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Boms is the author and editor of several books and publications related to democracy, regional cooperation, and the Syrian conflict. His articles have appeared in international newspapers and journals such as The Wall Street Journal, Ha’aretz, The Jerusalem Post, and The Asia Times. Before returning to Israel, he served as Vice President of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC, and previously worked at Israel’s Embassy in Washington.

Publications

  • Boms, Nir (2026), “From Westphalia to Gaza – The Return of State Order” in Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/23739770.2025.2607778
  • Boms, Nir, Stephane Cohen, (2025) “New Syria in the Making – Challenges and Opportunities for Israel,” in Nexus, Review of Middle Eastern Religions and Politics, June, 2025.
  • Boms, Nir; Valensi, Carmit, Alsaloum, Mzahem; (2025) “Beyond the Brink: Israel’s Strategic Opportunity in Syria,” in Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), Strategic Insight No. 1979, May 2025.
  • Boms, Nir; Khuzaie, Ahmed; Tuchman, Louis (2025) “Regional Cooperation in the Midst of Regional Conflagration: Examining the Partnership Agenda in the Shadow of the Gaza War,” Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung/Dayan Center for Middle East Studies.
  • Boms, Nir and Joelle Rosenthal (2023) “Regional Crisis and Regional Cooperation: Israeli Response to the Earthquake in Syria and Turkey” in Fikra Forum, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, March 2023.
  • Eliraz Giora and Bome Nir (2023), “The R20 Forum in Bali: Signs of an Intriguing Partnership,” in Fikra Forum, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, February 2023.
  • Boms, Nir and Ahmed al Kuzhae (2022) “Warm Peace in the Making – Examining P2P Relations, Two Years to the Abraham Accords” in Trans Atlantic Policy (Vol 21, No. 3), November 2022.
  • Boms, Nir and Hussein Aboubakr (2022), “Pan Arabism 2.0? The Struggle for a New Paradigm in the Middle East” in Religions 13: 28, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010028
  • Boms, Nir (2021), “The Egyptian TikTok Girls” in Beehive, Vol. 9, No. 8, August 2021.
  • Cohen S. & Boms N. (2021), “Israel and Lebanon: A Bridge Over Troubled Waters?” in Tau Notes, Volume 15, Number 1, February 28th, 2021.
  • Boms, Nir (2021), “Imperial Strom Tropers and the Return of the Mahdi – A Historical Perspective of the Israeli-Iranian struggle” in Political Faultlines in the Middle East (Kingshuk Chatterjee, editor), Center for Studies in International Relations and Development, KW Publishers, India, ISBN: 978-93-89137-77-4.
  • Boms, Nir, Moodrik Hilly & Ashraph, Sareta (2020) “The Syrian War – Between Justice and Political Reality,” Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9781108487801.
  • Boms, Nir & Zielińska Karolina (2019) “Changing borders in a changing region: the civilian dimension and security predicament along the Syrian-Israeli border” in Israel Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/13537121.2019.1626090.
  • Boms, Nir (2018) “Israel und Syrien: Zwischen humanitärem Engagement und Sicherheitsüberlegungen” (Israel and Syria: between Humanitarian Engagement and Political considerations) in Die Politische Meinung, Nr. 553, ISSN 0032-3466, November 2018, (Pp 69-78).
  • Boms, Nir & Swibel, Danny & Nir Boms (2018) “The Internet Hate Paradox,” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/23739770.2018.1492202.
  • Boms Nir & Zielinska, Karolina (2018) (Israel and the Southern De-escalation Zone: A Closer Look at the Israeli-Syrian Border”) Tel Aviv Notes, Volume 14, Number 12, July 12, 2018.
  • Boms, Nir (2018) “Israel’s Policy on the Syrian Civil War: Risks and Opportunities” in Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, (Vol. 11, No, 3, Pp 323-336).
  • Boms, Nir (2017) “Virtual Reality: New Media, the Arab Spring and the Democratic Revolution,” in Lost in Translation: New Paradigms for the Arab Spring, Uzi Rabi and Abdelilah Bouasria (editors).
  • Boms, Nir, Dekel Udi, Winter Ofir (2016), “Syria’s New Map and New Actors: Challenges and Opportunities for Israel,” The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
  • Boms, Nir (2016) “Expat-ing Democracy: Dissidents, Technology, and Democratic Discourse in the Middle East”, Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, ISBN-10: 3631654693.
  • Boms, Nir & Hazani Asaf (2014) “Choosing Not To Choose” in (Middle East Online), 2014-05-07 .
  • Boms, Nir & Hazani, Asaf (2014) “Israël déconcerté par la guerre en Syrie,” in Le Monde diplomatique, (pp, 10 – 11).
  • Boms, Nir & Arya, Shayan (2012). “Iranian Chess Games of Terror and War.” In Dante (Vol. 3, Pp 70 – 77).
  • Boms, Nir (2011). “About the Virtual and Real: Old Media, New Media and the Making of a Freedom Revolution in the Middle East.” in Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, (Vol. 2, No, 1, Pp 51-71).
  • Boms, Nir & Chiche, Fabrice (2009). “Une autre guerre á Gaza,” in Outre-Terre, Vol 22, pp. 106-112.
  • Boms, Nir (2009). “The End of Innocence,” in Rhapsody, Vol 7, April – June 2009.
  • Boms, Nir & Chiche, Fabrice (2009). “The Other Gaza War: Hamas Media Strategy during Operation Cast Lead and Beyond,” in Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, (Vol. 3, No, 2, Pp 37 – 43).
  • Boms, Nir (2007). “Immigration, Radicalization and Islamic Discourse in Europe: An examination and a Sufi Response,” in Deadalos Journal of Geopolitical Affairs, (Vol. 1).
  • Boms, Nir & Arya, Shayan (2007). “State-Sponsored Child Abuse in Iran: Iran’s violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,” The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education, (Link).
  • Boms, Nir & Chodoff, Elliot (2007). “Virtual Double Edged Sword: Communications Technology in the Service of Terror and Democracy,” Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 99-110.
  • Boms, Nir (2006). “Religious Freedom in Terrorism,” in Martyn Thomas & Adly Youssef, Eds, Copts in Egypt, A Christian Minority Under Siege, Zurich, G2W-Verlag, pp. 52-60.
  • Boms,Nir & Zielińska Karolina (2019), Changing borders in a changing region: the civilian dimension and security predicament
  • along the Syrian-Israeli border” in Israel Affairs, DOI, (10.1080/13537121.2019.1626090).
  • בומס ניר (2016) “שכנות טובה בגבול הצפון?”, צומת המזרח התיכון, כרך 6, גליון 11, נובמבר 2016.
  • בומס ניר (2015), דקל אודי ווינטר אופיר “סוריה – מפה חדשה, שחקנים חדשים: אתגרים והזדמנויות לישראל”, מזכר מס’ 151, המכון למחקרי ביטחון לאומי.
  • בומס ניר (2013), “סוריה בוחשת ברשת: האינטרנט ותנועת המחאה הסורית” בתוך: העם הסורי יודע את דרכו, מרכז משה דיין ללימודי המזרח התיכון ואפריקה, אוניברסיטת תל אביב.
  • בומס ניר (2012), “האופוזיציה הסורית בהתקרב שעת ההכרעה”, צומת המזרח התיכון, כרך 2 גיליון מס’ 6, יוני 2012.
  • Published over 300 newspaper articles in the Wall Street Journal, National Interest, Jerusalem Post, Muslim World Today, Washington Times, Israeli Journal of Foreign Affairs, Ha’aretz, Globes, Yediot Achronot, et al.
Media Presence & Columnist Published over 300 newspaper articles in the Wall Street Journal, National Interest, Jerusalem Post, Muslim World Today, Washington Times, Israeli Journal of Foreign Affairs, Ha’aretz, Globes, Yediot Achronot et al.

Selected Invited Talks

  • The Syrian War: Legal and Political Aspects – Israeli Humanitarian Intervention 2013-2018 (MESA Conference, 2020)
  • Critical Skills for the Fake News Age: Active Pedagogies in Middle East Studies (MESA Conference, 2020)
  • Israel in a Changing Middle East – Invited talk at Sorbonne University (Paris, November 17th 2019)
  • Israel Turkey Relations – from Strategic Partnership to Political Rivalry – International Seminar Middle East and Maghreb: 100 years of the end of the Ottoman Empire, (Bello Horizonte, Brazil, September 14th, 2019)
  • Tolerance or Fundamentalism? How can religions help reconciliation? – Black sea and Balkan Security Forum, (Romania, June 13th, 2019)
  • Seventy years later, has the world learned the lessons?” – The Importance of History Teaching in Education: The Case of the Holocaust and Great Tragedies of History, (Marrakesh, Dec 12th, 2018)
  • Israel Strategy of Humanitarian Aid,” (SWP, Siftung Wissenschaft Politik, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, August 28th, 2018)
  • International Security in a Turbulent World: Israeli and Polish Perspectives (Polish-Israeli Foreign Policy Conference Pism, Warsaw, Nov 30th 2-17)
  • The Middle Eastern Maze – Israel and Syria,the Institute for Counter Terrorism Policy (Hertzeliya, September 16th, 2017)
  • Conflict and Hope in the Middle East, Our Generation Speaks Out Conference (Oxford, August 3rd, 2017)

Syrian-Israeli Relations in Crisis: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives Middle East Center/Center for Israel Studies, St. Anthony, Oxford (February 28th, 2017)

Six Years On – The Syrian Revolution, Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum. Cambridge (February 27th, 2017)

-57 (17 דצמבר, 2017) . הגבול כגורם מחבר: הפעילות ההומניטרית בגבול ישראל-סוריה, כנס האגודה הגיאוגרפית הישראלית ה

Middle East Quo Vadis? Syria and Iraq, International Institute for Counter Terrorism , Hertzeliya (September 14th, 2016)

Israeli Humanitarian Diplomacy in Syria, : Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Washington D.C. (March 25th, 2016)

Freedom and Freedom of Speech: Lessons from the Middle East, Beyond the Obvious Guttenberg, Sweden (October 16-17, 2015).

Forbidden Aid, IsraeliHumanitarian Efforts to Syria, Tzipri Center, Jerusalem, (August 23rd, 2015)

Israel in a Changing Middle East, University of New South Wales, Australia (June 8th, 2015)

What Do Arab Want? – A Review of Middle East Polling Data, Hong Kong JCC (June 2nd, 2015)

Reponses to Item 7 and discussion on Human Rights in the Israeli Golan Heights, The UN Human Rights Council, Geneva (March 23rd, 2015)

Track II, the Case of Israel and Syria in Bridging Theory and Practice of Creative Conflict Engagement Conference, Bar Ilan University (January 14th, 2015).

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a Strategic Instrument of Promoting Civic Society and Democratization in the Middle East by Expatriate Opposition Groups , University of Haifa, National Security College (Nov 4th, 2013)

Media and the Arab Spring: 21st Century Dissidents Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Committee, Boston, MA (October 1st, 2013)

Old News, New Media and the Making of the Arab Spring,. The Martin Institute for Law and Policy, Stonehill College, Boston (September 30th , 2013)

New Media and the Arab Spring Amadeu Antonio Stiftung, Berlin (October 26th, 2011).

Middle East and the Rationality of Irrationality, Monash University, (June 2nd , 2008).

Research Publications

Book Reviews

Everyday Arab Identity—The Daily Reproduction of the Arab World by Christopher Phillips

(London: Routledge, 2012). Published in the Israel Journal of foreign Affairs VII : 3 (2013), Pp. 174 – 176.

The Making of Lebanese Foreign Policy:

Understanding the 2006 Hezbollah–Israeli War

by Henrietta Wilkins

(London: Routledge, 2013). Published in Israel Journal of foreign Affairs VI : 3 (2013), Pp. 153 – 157.

Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East by David Hirst

(New York: Nation Books, 2010), Published in Israel Journal of foreign Affairs VI : 1 (2012), Pp. 141 – 143.

To Make the Earth Whole: The Art of Citizen Diplomacy in an Age of Religious Militancy by Marc Gopin

(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), Published in Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs IV : 3 (2010), Pp. 157 – 160.

Innocent or not? Indyk’s lessons to a new American Administration, a review of Innocent Abroad :An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East, by Martin Indyk

Simon & Schuster, 2009 . Published in Rhapsody Journal, Vol. 7, 2009

Academic Teaching Experiences

“Israel & the Post-Arab Spring:

An Interactive View of the New Middle East,” Rothberg School, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

Coordinator,

AU workshop on Israel and the Middle East, international faculty Tel Aviv University

Chairman

Syria Forum, Tel Aviv University

Coordinator,

Gulf Israel Policy Forum