Luke Coffey is a specialist on foreign policy and national security. He works at the Hudson Institute. For many years before that, he worked at the Heritage Foundation. (He is therefore part of the Heritage diaspora, which is an impressive network.) Before that, he worked in Britain. And before that, he was in the U.S. Army, serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Coffey is my latest guest on Q&A, here. We talk about some basic questions — concerning the United States and the world’s dangers.
Coffey comes from rural Missouri. He is from a place so small, there is not even a population sign, he says. Everyone worked at the Chrysler plant — including his grandfathers, father, and stepfather. Right from the beginning, Luke was curious about the world. In my experience, either you are or you aren’t. There is not necessarily an explanation. It is simply an inclination. When he was about ten, the Soviet Union collapsed. (Putin is working hard to restore it, but that is another question — in fact, a question we take up in our podcast.) Luke asked his mother to go to the Walmart to buy a new globe, because it was important to have one with the new countries on it. He was the first in his family to go abroad or even to fly in an airplane.
Where did his particular interest in Britain come from? He begins his answer with a smile: “I live the special relationship every day, because I’m married to a Brit.”
In our half-hour or so together, we spend a fair amount of time on Afghanistan: 9/11, our invasion, our war, our exit, the return of the Taliban. These are thorny and important questions. We spend the balance of our time on Ukraine — which poses its own thorny and important questions. Coffey thinks it is plainly in the U.S. interest to back Ukraine. He believes that, instinctually, Americans know the same. He also knows that there is a great deal of misinformation in the air — concerning the nature of the war, the nature of Putin, etc.
Luke Coffey is a clear thinker and a clear talker. Again, to listen to our Q&A, go here.