This website is a collection of the work and writings of ML (Matt) Cavanaugh. It contains essays and ideas that fall into about three phases. It began as a rough-and-tumble personal blog from 2010 to 2012. Its second phase was as a website dedicated to the study of the use of force, WarCouncil.org, from late-2013 to mid-2015 (material that has also since migrated to form the original backbone of the Modern War Institute’s Commentary & Analysis site).

Nowadays, this site hosts a wider variety of pieces, published elsewhere or privately written, on strategy in particular or life in general, that have come from Matt’s mind (and pen). Some posts feature the spoken-word, like a year-long series of personal and historical essays (“Peak Perspectives” and “Peak Past”) for National Public Radio’s Colorado Springs’ affiliate, KRCC (2020-2021). There’s also book projects Cavanaugh spearheaded as an author and lead-editor, two anthologies on fiction and war, Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict (Potomac, 2018), and Winning Westeros: How Game of Thrones Explains Modern Military Conflict (Potomac, 2019).

And then as a writer, Cavanaugh’s work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Sydney Morning Herald, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and at ForeignPolicy.com.

Site visitors can find all Matt’s writings in chronological order as well as a few featured essays, speaking engagements, biographical information, athletic endeavors, learn about Matt’s experience as a live kidney donor, his scholarly activities, and a link to sign up to his weekly newsletter.

As always, all the content on this site, including all essays, are unofficial expressions of opinion; the views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Point, the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or any agency of the US government.

ML Cavanaugh | strategist | speaker | author | athlete