Luke Coffey

Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia

luke_coffey

At A Glance:

Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. His work analyzes national security and foreign policy, with a focus on Europe, Eurasia, NATO, and transatlantic relations.

Biography

Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. His work at Hudson analyzes national security and foreign policy, with a focus on Europe, Eurasia, NATO, and transatlantic relations.

Mr. Coffey was previously director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation from 2015 to 2022, in which role he oversaw and managed a team covering most of Heritage’s foreign policy and international affairs work. From 2012 to 2015, he was the Margaret Thatcher fellow at Heritage, focusing on relations between the United States and the United Kingdom and on the role of NATO and the European Union in transatlantic and Eurasian security.

Before joining Heritage, Mr. Coffey served at the UK Ministry of Defence as senior special adviser to then-British Defence Secretary Liam Fox. He was the first non-UK citizen appointed to this position by the prime minister to provide advice to senior British ministers. Among his duties was helping shape British defense policy in relation to transatlantic security, NATO, the Middle-East, and Afghanistan.

Mr. Coffey previously worked in the House of Commons as an adviser on defense and security issues for the Conservative Party. He helped develop and implement policy initiatives on security and defense matters, in particular drafting the defense section of the party’s 2010 election manifesto.

His work in British politics followed his service to the United States as a commissioned officer in the Army. He spent his entire time on active duty overseas and was stationed in Italy with the Army’s Southern European Task Force. In 2005, Mr. Coffey deployed to Afghanistan for a year and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Mr. Coffey’s commentary and analysis have been widely published and he has been interviewed on television and radio by prestigious media outlets in the US and overseas. For his work in support of Ukrainian sovereignty, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded him an Order of Merit, Third Class in August 2024.

Mr. Coffey has testified before the US Congress on NATO, Arctic security, the war in Afghanistan, and US policy in the South Caucasus. He has provided written testimony to the UK’s House of Lords Committee on the Arctic. His research has been quoted in reports by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the House of Lords Committee on the Arctic.

Mr. Coffey received a Master of Science degree in the politics and government of the European Union from the London School of Economics. He holds a BA in political science from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and studied African politics at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa.

An avid traveler, Mr. Coffey has lived on four continents and visited more than seventy countries. A native of Missouri, he and his family currently reside in Northern Virginia.

Events
23
April 2025
Past Event
Central and Eastern Europe Strategy Summit 2025
Featured Speakers:
Nikki R. Haley
Dr. Lars-Hendrik Röller
Maria Luís Albuquerque
Dr. Olga Zykova
Barna Tánczos
Amb. Tomáš Pojar
Ana Ivković
Dr. Anca Dragu
Dr. Yuriy Heletiy
Dr. Bogdan Ivan
Jan Růžička
Joel Scanlon
Moderators:
Peter Rough
Daniel Kochis
Matthew Boyse
Luke Coffey
CEE
23
April 2025
Past Event
Central and Eastern Europe Strategy Summit 2025

Hudson Institute’s Center on Europe and Eurasia will host its third Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Strategy Summit. 

CEE
Featured Speakers:
Nikki R. Haley
Dr. Lars-Hendrik Röller
Maria Luís Albuquerque
Dr. Olga Zykova
Barna Tánczos
Amb. Tomáš Pojar
Ana Ivković
Dr. Anca Dragu
Dr. Yuriy Heletiy
Dr. Bogdan Ivan
Jan Růžička
Joel Scanlon
Moderators:
Peter Rough
Daniel Kochis
Matthew Boyse
Luke Coffey
21
April 2025
Past Event
The Situation in Afghanistan and America’s Interests in the Region
Featured Speakers:
Gen. John M. Keane
Ali Nazary
Lisa Curtis
Luke Coffey
Moderator:
Jeremy Hunt
Getty Images
21
April 2025
Past Event
The Situation in Afghanistan and America’s Interests in the Region

A panel of experts will discuss the future of Afghanistan and US interests in South and Central Asia.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Gen. John M. Keane
Ali Nazary
Lisa Curtis
Luke Coffey
Moderator:
Jeremy Hunt
31
March 2025
Past Event
“The Perfect Allies”: Examining the US-Baltic Relationship Under the Trump Administration
Featured Speakers:
Amb. Kalev Stoicescu
Amb Eitvydas Bajarūnas
Olevs Nikers
Luke Coffey
Getty Images
31
March 2025
Past Event
“The Perfect Allies”: Examining the US-Baltic Relationship Under the Trump Administration

With global threats to freedom on the rise and America’s security commitments growing uncertain, join Luke Coffey and a panel of Baltic security experts for a discussion on the future of US-Baltic relations in the second Trump administration.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Amb. Kalev Stoicescu
Amb Eitvydas Bajarūnas
Olevs Nikers
Luke Coffey
26
March 2025
Past Event
Red Lines, Ceasefires, and Peace in Ukraine: A Conversation with Oleksii Goncharenko
Featured Speakers:
Luke Coffey
Oleksii Goncharenko
Getty Images
26
March 2025
Past Event
Red Lines, Ceasefires, and Peace in Ukraine: A Conversation with Oleksii Goncharenko

Ukrainian Member of Parliament Oleksii Goncharenko joins Hudson’s Luke Coffey for a conversation on the current state of United States–Ukraine relations, ongoing peace negotiations, and why Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty matters to both the US and Europe. Goncharenko will discuss the war, the many risks and opportunities of peace talks with Russia, and how continued Western support is vital to ensuring a just and lasting peace in Europe’s most consequential conflict since World War II.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Luke Coffey
Oleksii Goncharenko
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a plenary session at the BRICS summit, in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shmetov/AFP via Getty)
Caption
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attend a plenary session at the BRICS summit, in Kazan, Russia, on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shmetov/AFP via Getty)
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luke_coffey
Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia
Commentary
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