Carey Cavanaugh
Encyclopedia
Carey Cavanaugh is a former U.S.
Ambassador
who now serves as Director of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
at the University of Kentucky
. For twenty-two years, he served as a Foreign Service
officer with the U.S. Department of State
. In addition to Washington assignments in the State Department, Pentagon
and on Capitol Hill, Ambassador Cavanaugh served in Berlin
, Moscow
, Tbilisi
, Rome
, and Bern. He joined the Patterson School in 2006, where he is also professor of diplomacy
and conflict resolution
. He continues to work periodically on special assignments for the State Department's Inspector General.
at the University of Florida
, where he was also a member of Delta Chi
Fraternity. In 1975 he also studied briefly at Leningrad Polytechnical Institute. He went on to graduate study in government and international affairs at the University of Notre Dame
and the U.S. Army Russian Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
, Germany
. At the State Department's Foreign Service Institute
, he studied German and Italian.
Cavanaugh taught international affairs and Soviet and East European studies at Youngstown State University
in Ohio
and did research at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich.
. Afterwards, as a political officer at the American Embassy in Moscow, he was responsible for Soviet relations towards Europe and arms control issues. In 1991-92, he was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, working with Senator Carl Levin
(D-Michigan). When Eduard Shevardnadze
became President of the Republic of Georgia in 1992, Cavanaugh was sent to Tbilisi
as Chargé d'affaires, leading the team that established the U.S. embassy to that new state. After Tbilisi, Cavanaugh was assigned to the US Embassy in Rome to cover the communist and socialist parties, as well as European policy issues. The State Department cut short this assignment to return him to Washington to help with the multi-billion dollar assistance program for the former Soviet Union and shortly after to support international and US efforts to advance peace in the Caucasus. He was a fellow in MIT
’s Seminar XXI in 1994-95.
Under the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush
, Cavanaugh spearheaded or helped advance peace efforts involving Armenia
, Azerbaijan
, Cyprus
, Georgia, Greece
, Moldova
, Tajikistan
, and Turkey
. During his service as Director of Southern European Affairs and Acting Special Cyprus Coordinator, he received the Clement Dunn Award for Excellence for defusing the crisis that arose when Cyprus purchased a Russian S-300 (missile) system capable of striking Turkey. He later dealt with the issues of Nazi gold and Holocaust-era assets, while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland
. In 2000, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador/Special Negotiator responsible for conflicts in Eurasia and to serve as Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group. This assignment culminated in OSCE peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
with the Presidents of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliev and Armenia Robert Kocharyan at Harry S Truman's Little White House in Key West
, Florida
.
Cavanaugh was president of the Department of State’s Senior Seminar in 2001-2002. Afterwards, he worked for three years as a senior inspector/team leader in State's Office of the Inspector General. Cavanaugh’s final official assignment was foreign policy/political advisor to Chief of Naval Operations
Admiral Michael Mullen
, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
.
and the International Institute for Strategic Studies
(London). He is a founding board member of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship, responsible for developing the curriculum for its annual student congress. He works frequently with the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
, the London-based non-governmental organization Conciliation Resources, and the United States Army War College Center for Strategic Leadership. He has also served repeatedly as a senior scholar for IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board
) and is a regular speaker for the American Committees on Foreign Relations.
and the University of Notre Dame
) and Keith, and reside in Lexington, Kentucky.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
who now serves as Director of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce
The Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce is a graduate program devoted to the study of diplomacy, international affairs and commerce. The school is small and select, admitting only 35 students a year to pursue full-time study toward a master’s degree...
at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
. For twenty-two years, he served as a Foreign Service
United States Foreign Service
The United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
officer with the U.S. Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. In addition to Washington assignments in the State Department, Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
and on Capitol Hill, Ambassador Cavanaugh served in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and Bern. He joined the Patterson School in 2006, where he is also professor of diplomacy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
and conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
. He continues to work periodically on special assignments for the State Department's Inspector General.
Background
Cavanaugh grew up in the Jacksonville Beaches (primarily Atlantic Beach), but also lived for two years in Italy. He began studying Russian in ninth grade and, after briefly starting with nuclear engineering, majored in RussianRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
at the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, where he was also a member of Delta Chi
Delta Chi
Delta Chi or D-Chi is an international Greek letter college social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890,at Cornell University, initially as a professional fraternity for law students. On April 29, 1922, Delta Chi became a general membership social fraternity, eliminating the requirement for men...
Fraternity. In 1975 he also studied briefly at Leningrad Polytechnical Institute. He went on to graduate study in government and international affairs at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
and the U.S. Army Russian Institute in Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Oberbayern region, and the district is on the border with Austria...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. At the State Department's Foreign Service Institute
Foreign Service Institute
The Foreign Service Institute is the United States Federal Government's primary training institution for employees of the U.S. foreign affairs community, preparing American diplomats and other professionals to advance U.S. foreign affairs interests overseas and in Washington...
, he studied German and Italian.
Cavanaugh taught international affairs and Soviet and East European studies at Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University
Youngstown State University, founded in 1908, is an urban research university located in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2010, there were 15,194 students and a student-faculty ratio of 19:1. It is recognized as being one of the premier schools in the country, comparable to Ivy League...
in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and did research at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Munich.
Government Service
Entering the Foreign Service in 1984, Cavanaugh rose to the rank of Minister Counselor, with a career focused on conflict resolution, assistance, and humanitarian issues. His first tour of duty was at the U.S. Mission to Berlin (West) where he worked primarily on consular affairs and political reporting on Iran. This was followed by assignment to the Office of Soviet Affairs in Washington to handle bilateral relations and some arms control issues, in particular implementation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyIntermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is a 1987 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union. Signed in Washington, D.C. by U.S. President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on December 8, 1987, it was ratified by the United States Senate on May 27, 1988 and...
. Afterwards, as a political officer at the American Embassy in Moscow, he was responsible for Soviet relations towards Europe and arms control issues. In 1991-92, he was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, working with Senator Carl Levin
Carl Levin
Carl Milton Levin is a Jewish-American United States Senator from Michigan, serving since 1979. He is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services. He is a member of the Democratic Party....
(D-Michigan). When Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
became President of the Republic of Georgia in 1992, Cavanaugh was sent to Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
as Chargé d'affaires, leading the team that established the U.S. embassy to that new state. After Tbilisi, Cavanaugh was assigned to the US Embassy in Rome to cover the communist and socialist parties, as well as European policy issues. The State Department cut short this assignment to return him to Washington to help with the multi-billion dollar assistance program for the former Soviet Union and shortly after to support international and US efforts to advance peace in the Caucasus. He was a fellow in MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
’s Seminar XXI in 1994-95.
Under the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Cavanaugh spearheaded or helped advance peace efforts involving Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Georgia, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, Tajikistan
Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
, and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. During his service as Director of Southern European Affairs and Acting Special Cyprus Coordinator, he received the Clement Dunn Award for Excellence for defusing the crisis that arose when Cyprus purchased a Russian S-300 (missile) system capable of striking Turkey. He later dealt with the issues of Nazi gold and Holocaust-era assets, while serving as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. In 2000, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as Ambassador/Special Negotiator responsible for conflicts in Eurasia and to serve as Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group. This assignment culminated in OSCE peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
with the Presidents of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliev and Armenia Robert Kocharyan at Harry S Truman's Little White House in Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Cavanaugh was president of the Department of State’s Senior Seminar in 2001-2002. Afterwards, he worked for three years as a senior inspector/team leader in State's Office of the Inspector General. Cavanaugh’s final official assignment was foreign policy/political advisor to Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
Admiral Michael Mullen
Michael Mullen
Michael Glenn "Mike" Mullen is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral, who served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2011. Mullen previously served as the Navy's 28th Chief of Naval Operations from July 22, 2005 to September 29, 2007...
, the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States Armed Forces, and is the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council and the Secretary of Defense...
.
Current Affiliations and Activities
Cavanaugh is a member of the Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
and the International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
(London). He is a founding board member of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship, responsible for developing the curriculum for its annual student congress. He works frequently with the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue
Centre for humanitarian dialogue
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, otherwise known as the Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, or the HD Centre proclaims to be:"An independent and impartial organisation whose motivation is to reduce human suffering in war...
, the London-based non-governmental organization Conciliation Resources, and the United States Army War College Center for Strategic Leadership. He has also served repeatedly as a senior scholar for IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board
International Research & Exchanges Board
International Research & Exchanges Board is an international nonprofit organization providing leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media, and foster pluralistic civil society development....
) and is a regular speaker for the American Committees on Foreign Relations.
Family
Cavanaugh married Laura Kokx of Hart, Michigan in 1981. They have two sons, Chase (who studied international affairs at Institut d'Etudes Politiques de ParisInstitut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris
The Institut d'études politiques de Paris , simply referred to as Sciences Po , is a public research and higher education institution in Paris, France, specialised in the social sciences. It has the status of grand établissement, which allows its admissions process to be highly selective...
and the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
) and Keith, and reside in Lexington, Kentucky.