Marvin Zonis facts for kids

Marvin Zonis (born September 18, 1936 – died November 15, 2020) was an American expert who studied how politics and economics affect each other. He was a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He taught about international economics, leadership, and digital technologies. He was also the first professor at the Business School to teach a course on digital technologies.

Education and Early Career

Marvin Zonis went to several top universities. He studied at Yale University, the Harvard Business School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, he earned a Ph.D. degree in political science. This is a very high university degree. He also trained in psychoanalysis at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. This field studies how the mind works.

Zonis also worked as a consultant for companies around the world. He helped them understand and manage "political risks." These are risks to businesses that come from political changes in a country. He was on the board of directors for several important organizations. These included CNA Financial, a global insurance company, and Syntek Capital, a European investment firm. He also advised the Comptroller General of the United States at the GAO. He was a member of the International Society of Political Psychology.

Focus on the Middle East

Marvin Zonis wrote many books and articles. His main topics included globalization, digital technologies, and emerging markets. He was a leading expert on Middle East politics. He spent most of his life studying the mix of Islam, terrorism, and the Middle East. When he was younger, he lived in Iran. He also hitchhiked through Afghanistan and studied Islam in Iraq. He traveled widely across the region.

Important Books

Zonis wrote several important books. Here are some of them:

Majestic Failure: The Fall of the Shah

This book is about the former ruler of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, known as the Shah. Zonis knew the Shah personally. The book looks at the Shah's life and how his mind worked. Zonis believed that the Shah became less able to lead in the 1970s. This made him unable to handle the challenge from the Iranian Revolution. The Shah's main support came from his people's admiration and his friendships. He also believed he had special divine protection and a strong alliance with the U.S. government.

The book explores how the Shah's relationships affected him. For example, it looks at his relationship with his parents. It also discusses his strong interest in flying and heights. Even though he was closer to his mother, the Shah mentioned his father much more often in his autobiography.

The Political Elite of Iran

This was Marvin Zonis's first published book. It examines the most powerful people in Iranian politics up to the late 1960s. Zonis studied not only those who held official government jobs. He also identified about 3,000 people who had a lot of influence. He focused on the top 10% of this group. He then studied how the Shah interacted with these influential people. Zonis interviewed many of them. He found that the longer these powerful people were part of the Shah's political system, the more insecure, cynical, and distrustful they became.

Death

Marvin Zonis died on November 15, 2020.