Whole of Government Events

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[PAST EVENT] [POSTPONED] Global Action, Local Change: How Small Island Nations Are Shaping a Sustainable Future

February 21, 2025
5pm
Location
POSTPONED
Access & Features
  • Open to the public
Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed Ambassador of Maldives to the United States of America
Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed Ambassador of Maldives to the United States of America

Due to impending weather, this event has been postponed.

Ambassador Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Ambassador of Maldives to the U.S., will participate in a panel with Charles "Chuck" Marks (Associate Dean and Professional Military Education Expert, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies) and Dr. Sarah Stafford (CSX Professor of Economics and Public Policy, William & Mary). Dr. Kathryn Floyd (Director, Whole of Government Center of Excellence, William & Mary) will moderate the panel. The event is free and open to the public.

Panelists

Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed

Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed was appointed as Ambassador of the Maldives to the United States of America by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on 15 September 2022 and presented his credentials to President Joseph Biden on 12 December 2022. He had formerly served as Foreign Secretary since November 2018 and as Ambassador-at-Large since May 2022. An accomplished diplomat, Ghafoor has served the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, both at headquarters and in a number of foreign postings. Starting his career as a Program Officer in 1983, he has held the post of Assistant Undersecretary, Assistant Director, Political Affairs and Deputy Director and Director, Foreign Relations, at the Ministry. In 1997, Ghafoor was deputed to serve in the Secretariat of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as Director from Maldives. Following his 3-year tenure at the SAARC Secretariat, Ghafoor was appointed Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000 and was later promoted to the rank of Assistant Executive Director in 2005 and then to Executive Director in 2007. During his long and distinguished career in the Maldives foreign service, Ghafoor also served as Counsellor and then Deputy High Commissioner of Maldives to Sri Lanka and later as Deputy High Commissioner of Maldives to Malaysia. He was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations Offices in Geneva in 2008 by then President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, concurrently serving as the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the World Trade Organisation. Following the change of Government in 2008, the newly elected President Mohamed Nasheed appointed Ghafoor as the Permanent Representative of Maldives to the United Nations in 2009, concurrently accredited as the Ambassador to the United States of America and NonResident High Commissioner to Canada. After the unprecedented and controversial resignation of President Nasheed in 2012, Ghafoor stepped down from his post. From 2013 till 2014, Ghafoor served as a Consultant at the Foreign Relations Department of the People’s Majlis (Parliament), aiding the legislature in fostering international cooperation and engagement. During the period 2014-2017, Ghafoor served as Director, Special Projects at ADK Enterprises Pvt Ltd, and as the Head of External Relations at the newly established Tree Top Hospital in Hulhumale’, gaining experience in the private sector. An individual with a keenness for academia, Ghafoor also lectured at the Maldives National University from 2016 to 2018 in the subjects of Political Science and International Relations. Ghafoor graduated from the University of Tasmania, Australia, in 1984 with a B.A(Hons.) in Political Science and was awarded an M.A in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA in 1988.

Charles (Chuck) Marks

Charles (Chuck) Marks is an Associate Dean and Professional Military Education (PME) Expert at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. A decorated, 30-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, Chuck served as a Surface Warfare Officer, a fiscal policy advisor, a strategic planner, and a Middle East, NATO and United Nations specialist. Specifically, he led Iran campaign planning on behalf of U.S. Central Command and served as the Chief of Plans for both the NATO and U.S. missions in Afghanistan. During his last five years in the Navy, he was the subject matter expert on building inclusive cultures to improve organizational climate in the Navy and to help counter destructive behaviors such as sexual assault, suicide, domestic violence, substance abuse, and gun violence. He has held multiple commands both ashore and afloat, and has served overseas in Europe, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. In September 2020, he joined the Near East South Asia Regional Center at the National Defense University as an Associate Dean, focused on supporting Saudi Arabia in the transformation of their National Defense University. In October 2021, he was appointed as the Provost leading the effort to design the future Saudi Arabia National Defense University, overseeing a combined team of U.S., U.K., and Saudi planners and faculty. In April 2022, he shifted focus to developing professional military education partnerships across the region. Chuck is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, attended the Sorbonne University in Paris, holds a master’s degree from the National Defense University in National Security Studies, and graduated from the German basic and intermediate courses at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA.

Sarah L. Stafford

Sarah L. Stafford, CSX Professor of Economics and Public Policy at W&M, received her B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1990 and her Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University in 1998, the same year in which she joined the William and Mary faculty. Her teaching interests include law and economics, regulation, environmental economics and industrial organization. Professor Stafford's research focuses on the effect of environmental regulations on firm and industry behavior.

Kathryn H. Floyd '05, Ph.D

Kathryn H. Floyd '05, Ph.D., is Director for William & Mary’s Whole of Government Center of Excellence (COE). She is also the Director for the e-internship program, Global Research Institute, William & Mary. Prior to this, she was the Project Director for the COE, which was commissioned by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs John C. Harvey, Jr. Floyd has taught courses in the Government Department on terrorism and security, while conducting research on youth and adolescent developments prior to radicalization. Floyd served as the Mass Violence & Terrorism Visiting Fellow at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2017 until 2019. In this capacity, she worked with emergency managers and planners at the federal, state, and local levels, focusing on preparedness and recovery. Floyd continues to be deeply involved with the new national standard, NFPA 3000 (PS): Active Shooter Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program. Through a previous position at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, she worked with numerous governments and hundreds of media outlets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, and North America for the Shangri-La Dialogue, Manama Dialogue, and other global summits. For assistance to Multi-National Force-Iraq and then-Colonel H.R. McMaster, Floyd received a “Certificate of Appreciation” from General David Petraeus. She also founded an international consultancy focusing on strategic communications, foreign policy, and event management. Floyd is a member of the National Press Club, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and Warlord Loop. She has been published by the International Public Safety Association, Strategic Comments, Diplomatic Courier, and more. Floyd received her Ph.D. in Strategic Studies (focusing on pre-radicalization) from S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) where she worked with the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR). She holds an M.A. in War Studies from King’s College London (United Kingdom) and a B.A. in Government from William & Mary.








Sponsored by: Reves Center for International Studies, W&M's Batten School & VIMS, Whole of Government Center of Excellence

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