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Gen. Zinni to Teach Sanford Course

Former head of Central Command to teach course on leadership

Gen. Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.), former head of the U.S. Central Command, will join the faculty of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy for the spring semester as the Sanford Distinguished Lecturer in Residence and will teach a new course in the Hart Leadership Program.

"The thing that attracted me the most [to Duke] is the emphasis on leadership," said Zinni.

"I'm really pleased that we were able to persuade Tony Zinni to spend more time with us at Duke," said Bruce Kuniholm, Sanford Institute director and professor of public policy and history. "When he came to Duke last spring as the Sanford Distinguished Lecturer, he made a profound impression on our students and faculty." Zinni spoke at the Sanford Institute in January, when he presented the 2007 Terry Sanford Distinguished Lecture, "Iraq: Failures, Realities and the Future."

In his most recent book, The Battle for Peace, Zinni describes how the world has changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and calls for new ways to operate in it. Globalization, the rise of non-state entities, mass migrations, access to new technologies, the Information Age, the emergence of new powers and other changes have reshaped our world. Zinni argues that we must develop fresh approaches to security, governing, prospering economically, interacting with our environment and adapting to social change. Successful leaders in all fields -- including the military, academia, politics and business -- must know how to create, operate and thrive in very fluid, flattened and integrated organizations that are remarkably different from the traditional structures we are used to seeing.  

 

In Zinni's course, Leading in a New World, undergraduates will examine the trends that have reshaped our world and the ways in which leaders and organizations in all sectors have effectively responded to such change. The course will be open to Hart Leadership Program students and public policy studies majors. Admission into the class will be based on an application.

During his military career, Zinni served in more than 70 countries, including Japan, Germany and two tours in Vietnam. From 1997 to 2000, he served as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command, overseeing U.S. military activity in the Arab Gulf and Central Asia. After Zinni retired from the Marines in 2002, President George W. Bush appointed him the U.S. Special Envoy to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. During that time, Zinni became concerned with the policy the administration was taking on Iraq. In the months immediately prior to the war, he concluded that U.S. government leaders were ill-prepared to launch a military campaign in the Middle East and did not support the decision to go to war in Iraq.

Zinni has lectured at more than 30 universities and holds chairs at several institutions including, the Virginia Military Institute, the University of California at Berkeley, the Joint Forces Staff College, and the College of William and Mary