A former Matsui fellow at the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, Naweed Tahmas holds a B.A. in political science with a concentration in international relations.

His academic interests were political psychology and philosophy, Persian thought and history, grand strategy, and the future of the international order. His focus was on foreign policy pragmatism, the role of Persian identity in the Afghan war and in Central Asia, and the rise and statecraft of China, Singapore, Thailand, and other nations in Asia.