His Excellency, Dr. Anwar Gargash (CCAS B.A. ’81, M.A. ’84), Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, United Arab Emirates, is an exemplary leader who gives back to the Elliott School community in meaningful ways. Dr. Gargash, first a student at GW, now executing the very history-making policies he began studying, recently offered Elliott School students a rare chance to attend a high-level, off-the-record briefing on the Middle East.
His Excellency spoke with about a dozen students, both graduate and undergraduate, who benefited from hearing a regional perspective on the many issues confronting the region, such as the consequences of the Arab Spring, the unfolding confrontation with ISIS, and the situation in Syria.
In town for a GW-sponsored conference the following week,“Toward a Global Partnership to Counter Online Radicalization and Extremism,” His Excellency was received warmly as the keynote speaker.
Alumni like Dr. Gargash serve as a direct connection for current students to the real world of policy making; the world they hear about in classes, read about in textbooks, and watch on CNN. But to see an alumnus so accomplished having served multiple roles in the UAE government, the impossible starts to seem possible.
Dr. Gargash’s resume includes service as Chairman of the National Elections Committee in the United Arab Emirates, where he oversaw the UAE’s first elections in 2006, as well as the subsequent elections in 2011 and 2015. He has also served as the Chairman of the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking and leader of the UAE team for the Human Rights Periodic Review. He was appointed Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs in 2006 and was subsequently named Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, a position he has held since 2008.
If the mission of the Elliott School is to build leaders for tomorrow, we must first begin by listening to the leaders of today. We thank all our talented GW and Elliott School alumni for their support and hope they continue to share their knowledge and experiences with current students as they begin to envision what kind of world they want to help create.