Anthony Zinni

Anthony Zinni

Anthony Charles Zinni (born September 17, 1943) is a retired four-star General in the United States Marine Corps and a former Commander in Chief of United States Central Command (CENTCOM). In 2002, he was selected to be a special envoy for the United States to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

While serving as special envoy, Zinni was also an instructor in the Department of International Studies at the Virginia Military Institute. Currently, he is an instructor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University, a public speaker, and an author of two best-selling books on his military career and foreign affairs, most recently Battle for Peace. He also is involved in the corporate world, joining M.I.C. Industries as its president for International Operations in 2005.

Zinni also serves on the advisory boards of eight different companies, including the security testing firm, Mu Dynamics, based in Sunnyvale, California. He joined Duke University's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy in Spring 2008 as the Sanford Distinguished Lecturer in Residence and taught a new course in the Hart Leadership Program.

Since September 2011, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Middle East Institute.

He has been credited for foresight in predicting the dangers of terrorism coming out of Afghanistan before the September 11, 2001 attacks and supporting the Iraq War troop surge of 2007. He opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In October 2009 he came out firmly in support of General McChrystal's request for up to 40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan.