Areas of Expertise

  • Security and defense policy
  • Civil defense and comprehensive defense
  • Resilience
  • Integrated security
  • Cybersecurity policy and critical infrastructure

Short Bio

Nina Locher has been a policy fellow in DGAP’s Center for Security and Defense since March 2026. Focusing on the areas of resilience and integrated security, her work centers on the interconnection of internal and external security, whole-of-society resilience, and civil and comprehensive defense. 

Prior to joining DGAP, Locher served as head of cybersecurity policy at the German Informatics Society (GI). There, she shaped the organization’s stance on issues of national and international cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and digital resilience. Before that, as chief of staff for a member of the German Bundestag, she worked on the Foreign Affairs, Digital Affairs, and EU Committees, focusing on topics such as digital foreign and security policy, EU-transatlantic relations, North Africa, and East Asia. Prior to this, she held various positions at the Heinrich Böll Foundation, working on foreign, European, and domestic policy issues. 

Locher holds a double master’s degree in public administration and public policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Hertie School. She completed her bachelor’s degree in politics and public administration at the University of Konstanz, which included study at Istanbul Bilgi University. 

Languages

German, English, Turkish, Italian

 

[Last updated: March 2026]

Nina Locher

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Publications

Qatar, Ras Laffan Industrial City, built above the world's largest natural gas field

Lessons learned from the Middle East

Ensuring resilience for Europe’s energy infrastructure
Nina Locher
Loyle Campbell
Europe is underestimating a strategic shift in modern warfare: the intentional targeting of critical infrastructure. Russia has targeted Ukrainian civilian and critical infrastructure for years, but such energy systems have become central in the Iran War. Energy infrastructure is a particular focus: Strikes on gas and oil facilities illustrate how quickly economies can be destabilized by disrupting power grids, industrial production, and civilian supply. The resilience of critical infrastructure must move to the center of Germany’s and Europe’s defense and security agenda.
External Publications

In the media