 In 2000, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be Ambassador/Special Negotiator responsible for conflicts in Eurasia and concurrently U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.This assignment culminated in OSCE peace talks on Nagorno-Karabakh with the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliev and the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan at the Harry S Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida.Cavanaugh was president of the Department of State's 44th Senior Seminar in 2001-2002.