Luke Coffey

Luke Coffey (born 1979) is an American political adviser and US Army veteran. Coffey formerly worked as a Special Adviser to Liam Fox, the ex-Secretary of State for Defence in the United Kingdom.[1] He was the first non-British person to be appointed to provide advice to senior British ministers.[2] He is currently the Director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation, an American conservative think tank.[3]

Education

Coffey attended Wentworth Military Academy where he was commissioned in the U.S. Army as a distinguished military graduate of the Reserve Officer Training Corps programme. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri–St. Louis, studied African politics at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa as a visiting undergraduate, and earned a Master of Science degree in European Union Politics from the London School of Economics.[4]

Military career

Prior to British politics, Coffey served as a Captain in the US Army as part of the Southern European Task Force (AIRBORNE) based in Vicenza, Italy and deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2005.

Career

Coffey began his work with the Conservative Party in 2006 in the office of MP Mark Harper. He also worked for Liam Fox when Fox was Shadow Secretary of State for Defence prior to the May 2010 general election.

In June 2010, it was reported in the Sunday Times that Coffey, as an American citizen, did not have the proper security clearance to undertake his role as Special Adviser to the UK Defence Secretary.[5] However, the Ministry of Defence has stated that Coffey has been subject to the necessary security vetting for him to undertake his role.[6]

In 2012, he joined The Heritage Foundation's Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. In 2016, he was promoted to the position of Director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy.[3]

Views

Coffey has written favorably about Azerbaijan.[7] In 2018 his articles advocating deeper U.S. ties with Azerbaijan appeared on Foreign Policy and The National Interest.[8][9] In 2015 he visited Azerbaijan. He said in an interview that in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, "in the short term, their interest is getting money from oil and gas to improve infrastructure, to improve the lives of the IDPs living in Azerbaijan, and to modernise and rearm their military."[10]

Coffey has accused Armenia in having "invaded" Azerbaijan[11] and "occupied" Nagorno-Karabakh and its 7 surrounding districts of Azerbaijan[12] during the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

References
  1. Department of Information Services, "Parliamentary Information List", accessed 09.01.11
  2. The Heritage Foundation, “”, accessed 23.06.18
  3. The Heritage Foundation, "Luke Coffey", accessed 26.12.14
  4. CENSA Website, "Membership directory Archived 2010-11-25 at the Wayback Machine", accessed 09.01.11
  5. Isabel Oakeshott , "Minister lets US ‘mole’ roam MoD", The Sunday Times, 06.06.10, accessed 12.09.10
  6. Official Record, "", accessed 09.01.11
  7. Altstadt, Audrey L. (28 February 2018). "Partnerships with Corrupt Regimes Are Not in the National Interest". National Interest.
  8. Coffey, Luke; Nifti, Efgan (28 May 2018). "Why the West Needs Azerbaijan". Foreign Policy.
  9. Coffey, Luke (25 January 2018). "America Needs Strategic Partners like Azerbaijan". National Interest.
  10. Nigmatulina, Anna (5 March 2015). "Tensions reignite in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict". Al Jazeera.
  11. https://twitter.com/LukeDCoffey/status/916078602608873472
  12. https://twitter.com/LukeDCoffey/status/960975012877537280
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