Luke Cooper
@lukecooper100.bsky.social
Associate Professorial Research Fellow in International Relations (IR) at LSE IDEAS running PeaceRep's Ukraine programme. Book: Authoritarian Contagion, co-host Another Europe pod.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/people/Luke-Cooper
https://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/people/Luke-Cooper
Well said @jonathanliew.bsky.social 👏 👏 👏 👏 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
October 21, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Well said @jonathanliew.bsky.social 👏 👏 👏 👏 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Wow what a great illustration of a flawed tax system in the Observer. Buckingham palace paid just £1828 in council tax for the year 2023-2024. Less than a band c property in Middlesbrough and many flats in London.
October 19, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Wow what a great illustration of a flawed tax system in the Observer. Buckingham palace paid just £1828 in council tax for the year 2023-2024. Less than a band c property in Middlesbrough and many flats in London.
Good editorial in the FT on the Trump administration’s war on academic freedom on.ft.com/4hfkYat
October 17, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Good editorial in the FT on the Trump administration’s war on academic freedom on.ft.com/4hfkYat
Some of the detail in the failed espionage prosecution against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry are quite extraordinary. And will send a chill through public policy sectors undertaking any form of work for Chinese entities. This bit jumped out as particularly 🤯
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
October 12, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Some of the detail in the failed espionage prosecution against Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry are quite extraordinary. And will send a chill through public policy sectors undertaking any form of work for Chinese entities. This bit jumped out as particularly 🤯
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Loneliness is an under discussed factor in far right radicalisation online
October 3, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Loneliness is an under discussed factor in far right radicalisation online
Extraordinary scenes in Kyiv and Lviv tonight as young protestors defy martial law to protest against govt destruction of the independence of the country’s anti corruption agencies. First mass protest in Kyiv since martial law. This still from Ukraine Pravda video on X.
July 22, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Extraordinary scenes in Kyiv and Lviv tonight as young protestors defy martial law to protest against govt destruction of the independence of the country’s anti corruption agencies. First mass protest in Kyiv since martial law. This still from Ukraine Pravda video on X.
Interesting @labourlist.bsky.social poll here. Despite all the resignations and the talk of a “new left party”, the Labour Party membership appears to remain firmly to the left of the leadership with a clear preference for right leaning cabinet members to face the chop in a future reshuffle.
June 27, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Interesting @labourlist.bsky.social poll here. Despite all the resignations and the talk of a “new left party”, the Labour Party membership appears to remain firmly to the left of the leadership with a clear preference for right leaning cabinet members to face the chop in a future reshuffle.
Interesting developments in the Labour Party. 80 is something of a magic number, as it’s both the number of rebellious MPs needed to defeat the govt AND the number required to force a leadership contest. As the Tories illustrated, you can only tank in the polls for so long before MPs get cold feet.
June 25, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Interesting developments in the Labour Party. 80 is something of a magic number, as it’s both the number of rebellious MPs needed to defeat the govt AND the number required to force a leadership contest. As the Tories illustrated, you can only tank in the polls for so long before MPs get cold feet.
What an astonishing thing for the President of the European Commission to say in the present context in a long readout of her call with Netanyahu published on socials.
June 17, 2025 at 5:52 AM
What an astonishing thing for the President of the European Commission to say in the present context in a long readout of her call with Netanyahu published on socials.
Wow. What a political humiliation for the UK government and their strategy towards Trump. The news that the US will consider dumping the Aukus programme comes not much more than a week after the UK proposed expanding the programme in its Strategic Defence Review #laughorcry
June 11, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Wow. What a political humiliation for the UK government and their strategy towards Trump. The news that the US will consider dumping the Aukus programme comes not much more than a week after the UK proposed expanding the programme in its Strategic Defence Review #laughorcry
Props to the Google staff organising this. A CWU “senior figure” told the FT, they are well paid and it’s not about money. “They’re not joining the trade union for pay negotiations. They’ve joined because they’ve seen the benefits of collectivising to hold Google to account for their stated ethics”.
April 26, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Props to the Google staff organising this. A CWU “senior figure” told the FT, they are well paid and it’s not about money. “They’re not joining the trade union for pay negotiations. They’ve joined because they’ve seen the benefits of collectivising to hold Google to account for their stated ethics”.
Monetary stability and tradeoffs between the war and civilian economy are becoming a problem for the Russian side. In a sign that Ukraine is winning the battle for monetary stability, its inflation adjusted interest rates have diverged sharply since last summer 🧵/9 peacerep.org/publication/...
April 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Monetary stability and tradeoffs between the war and civilian economy are becoming a problem for the Russian side. In a sign that Ukraine is winning the battle for monetary stability, its inflation adjusted interest rates have diverged sharply since last summer 🧵/9 peacerep.org/publication/...
Russia has been drawing down its "rainy day" fund, the National Wealth Fund, to pay for the war effort, while - as Craig Kennedy showed in his important recent report - pushing its state owned banks into politically directed lending to the war economy. 🧵/7
April 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Russia has been drawing down its "rainy day" fund, the National Wealth Fund, to pay for the war effort, while - as Craig Kennedy showed in his important recent report - pushing its state owned banks into politically directed lending to the war economy. 🧵/7
The picture is different on the Russian side due to the role of sanctions and the oil dependency of the Russian economy. Despite the incentives that sanctions create to import substitution, Russia has become more import dependent in non-mineral sectors since 2022. 🧵/6 peacerep.org/publication/...
April 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
The picture is different on the Russian side due to the role of sanctions and the oil dependency of the Russian economy. Despite the incentives that sanctions create to import substitution, Russia has become more import dependent in non-mineral sectors since 2022. 🧵/6 peacerep.org/publication/...
To finance this Ukraine has sharply increased its tax revenue mobilisation, mobilised funds from citizens through donations and relied heavily on external support. But with Ukraine having secured external funds till 2027, it is in a relatively strong position 🧵/5 peacerep.org/publication/...
April 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
To finance this Ukraine has sharply increased its tax revenue mobilisation, mobilised funds from citizens through donations and relied heavily on external support. But with Ukraine having secured external funds till 2027, it is in a relatively strong position 🧵/5 peacerep.org/publication/...
Both sides have developed a “military Keynesian” economy whereby war related spending is crucial to supporting aggregate demand. This is more stark on the Ukrainian side, as it has had no choice but to throw massive resources at its struggle for survival 🧵/4 peacerep.org/publication/...
April 22, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Both sides have developed a “military Keynesian” economy whereby war related spending is crucial to supporting aggregate demand. This is more stark on the Ukrainian side, as it has had no choice but to throw massive resources at its struggle for survival 🧵/4 peacerep.org/publication/...
Sharp falls in travel to the US may be a sign that Europeans are heeding calls from the US left to take vacation elsewhere in rebuke to Trump’s nightmarish America.
April 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Sharp falls in travel to the US may be a sign that Europeans are heeding calls from the US left to take vacation elsewhere in rebuke to Trump’s nightmarish America.
"We forgot to include Russia in the tariff regime but slapped them on an uninhabited penguin island in Antartica, accessible in a two week boat from Perth"
April 4, 2025 at 7:50 AM
"We forgot to include Russia in the tariff regime but slapped them on an uninhabited penguin island in Antartica, accessible in a two week boat from Perth"
Let the price gouging begin…
March 23, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Let the price gouging begin…
Wowzers. Love this graph from Davide Oneglia (TS Lombard). HT the morning update from John Authers/Bloomberg.
March 18, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Wowzers. Love this graph from Davide Oneglia (TS Lombard). HT the morning update from John Authers/Bloomberg.
Some speculation that minerals deal was discussed even signed. It seems not. From BBC live feed: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
March 11, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Some speculation that minerals deal was discussed even signed. It seems not. From BBC live feed: www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5...
Significant breaking news:
❗️Ukraine agrees in principle to 30 day ceasefire
❗️US intelligence sharing resumed
❗️Military assistance to Ukraine resumed
Note: this isn't a ceasefire announcment. Ball now put back in Putin's court. Will he dance with Trump?
❗️Ukraine agrees in principle to 30 day ceasefire
❗️US intelligence sharing resumed
❗️Military assistance to Ukraine resumed
Note: this isn't a ceasefire announcment. Ball now put back in Putin's court. Will he dance with Trump?
March 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Significant breaking news:
❗️Ukraine agrees in principle to 30 day ceasefire
❗️US intelligence sharing resumed
❗️Military assistance to Ukraine resumed
Note: this isn't a ceasefire announcment. Ball now put back in Putin's court. Will he dance with Trump?
❗️Ukraine agrees in principle to 30 day ceasefire
❗️US intelligence sharing resumed
❗️Military assistance to Ukraine resumed
Note: this isn't a ceasefire announcment. Ball now put back in Putin's court. Will he dance with Trump?
Trump has produced in Canada what must be one of the most profound "rally around the flag" effects in modern political history.
February 27, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Trump has produced in Canada what must be one of the most profound "rally around the flag" effects in modern political history.