Luke Coffey

Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, where he analyzes European security, transatlantic relations, and foreign policy with a focus on Europe, Eurasia, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Arctic security, and Russian imperialism. For his work in support of Ukrainian sovereignty, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded him the Order of Merit, Third Class, in August 2024. He has been sanctioned by the Russian government since May 2023.

Mr. Coffey’s career has taken him to strategically important regions and active conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, the Arctic, the front lines of the Karabakh conflict, the line of occupation between Russian-occupied South Ossetia and Georgia, the Green Line in Cyprus, and the front lines of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Before joining Hudson, Mr. Coffey held several senior foreign policy roles at the Heritage Foundation, including director of the Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, where he oversaw much of the think tank’s foreign policy research. He was also the Margaret Thatcher fellow at Heritage. Earlier, he served at the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence as a senior special adviser to the British defence secretary. He became the first non-UK citizen appointed to that role by a British prime minister to advise senior government officials. He also worked in the House of Commons as an adviser on defense and security issues for the Conservative Party.

Mr. Coffey’s work in British politics followed his service as a commissioned officer in the US Army. He spent his active-duty service entirely overseas, including in Italy with the Army’s Southern European Task Force. In 2005, he deployed to Afghanistan for a year and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Mr. Coffey has testified before the US Congress, the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and the UK’s House of Lords. His commentary and analysis on NATO, Russia, Ukraine, European security, the Caspian Sea, and US foreign policy have appeared widely in leading US and international media outlets. He is also a frequent commentator on television and radio.

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 Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Missouri–St. Louis and studied African politics at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. In 2025, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Missouri–St. Louis. He has studied Turkish and Italian.

An avid traveler, Mr. Coffey has lived on four continents and visited more than 70 countries. A native of Missouri, he and his family currently reside in Northern Virginia.