Dr Duncan Depledge is a Senior Lecturer in Geopolitics & Security. He is also the School of Social Sciences and Humanities’ Director of Study Exchange. He has a Ph.D. from Royal Holloway, University of London, an MPhil in Geographical Research from the University of Cambridge, an MA in Political Theory from the University of Sheffield and a BA (Hons) in History from the University of Sheffield.
Duncan joined Loughborough University in 2019 as the School of Social Sciences and Humanities’ first Politics and International Studies Fellow. He was appointed Lecturer in 2020 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2024. His latest research focus on the implications of climate change for the changing and future character of war. He also continues to research the shifting geopolitics of the Arctic and how it impacts security and defence in the UK and Europe.
In addition to his interdisciplinary academic background, Duncan has extensive experience of working with government, parliamentarians, think tanks, international organisations and militaries. From 2010-2014, Duncan was a Research Analyst on the Climate Change & Security Programme at the Royal United Services Institute. He was the first Director of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions in Westminster, which he helped to establish (2015-2019). He also served as Special Adviser to the House of Commons Defence Committee during its inquiry on ‘UK Defence in the Arctic’ (2017-2018). In addition to these roles, Duncan has provided advice to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Ministry of Defence, NATO and the European Commission.
Duncan is an Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, a Non-Resident Fellow of the Center for Climate & Security in Washington D.C., and a Senior Research Associate to the Climate Change & (In)Security Project (a University of Oxford/British Army collaboration).
Duncan is also a member of The Polar Journal editorial board.
Duncan’s research is about what living in an era of climate change means for how we think about security, defence and war. This forms part of Duncan’s broader interest in 21st Century defence and security issues.
Duncan was the recipient of an ESRC New Investigator Grant for a project titled ‘Net Zero Militaries (NETZMIL): Retaining Operational Effectiveness in a Low-Carbon World (2023-2025)’. The project produced a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the UK Ministry of Defence as it attempts to navigate unprecedented changes in the global climate and energy landscape.
He is currently a Co-Investigator on another ESRC-funded projected titled ‘Critically Green: Tracing the geographical, social and environmental footprint of military decarbonisation’. This project is examining the geopolitical, social and environmental impacts of growing military demand for critical minerals.
Duncan also researches geopolitics and security in the changing Arctic.
Duncan teaches mainly on topics relating to international security, strategy and war.
Duncan is interested in supervising doctoral students in any area of geopolitics and/or foreign, security and defence policy (especially, but not limited to, 21st century challenges). If you are interested in working with him, please get in touch.
PhD Completions
- Dr Wooyun Jo, ‘The Republic of Korea and the United States: A Study in Alliance Politics’
- Dr Jordan Pilcher, ‘Fantasies, Anxieties, and Subjectivities: TRT World’s multimodal subject production of ‘Türkiye’ through coverage of geopolitics in Syria, Somalia, and Libya’
Book
- Depledge, D. (2018). Britain and the Arctic (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan)
Selected Journal Articles
- Floyd, R. and Depledge, D. (forthcoming 2026). The climate crisis and the justice of wars. Security Studies.
- Depledge, D., Santos, T., and Hobson, T. (2025). The UK Ministry of Defence, “Low-Carbon Warfare”, and the struggle to construct novel sociotechnical imaginaries of future war. Contemporary Security Policy.
- Depledge, D., and Santos, T. (2024). The UK Ministry of Defence an the transition to ‘low-carbon warfare’: A multilevel perspective on military change. European Journal of International Security.
- Depledge, D., Santos, T., Morisetti, N., and Nugee, R. (2023). Low-carbon warfare. Nature Climate Change.
- Depledge, D. (2023). Low Carbon Warfare: Climate Change, Net Zero and Military Operations. International Affairs.
- Kennedy-Pipe, C. and Depledge, D. (2022). Foreword: Rising Temperatures. The Geographical Journal.
- Depledge, D. (2021). NATO and the Arctic: The Need for a New Approach. The RUSI Journal.
- Depledge, D., Dodds, K., and Kennedy-Pipe, C. (2019) The UK’s Arctic Defence Strategy: Negotiating the slippery geopolitics of the Arctic, The RUSI Journal 164.