 Cavanaugh also established greater engagement with defense/security entities such as the Department of Energy's Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and the United States Army War College.He also fostered a focus on Mideast politics that has included regular student attendance at the Middle East Institute's annual conference in Washington, DC and participation in the annual Doha Forum in Qatar.His teaching focuses on diplomacy, negotiation, mediation and conflict resolution; the diplomacy of nuclear weapons; and international ethics.