New Critical Infrastructure Challenges and Solutions

1. Introduction  2. The Impact of Climate Change on Critical Infrastructures  3. Challenges of Over-Urbanization and Pressure on Critical Infrastructures  4. Aging Critical Infrastructures and Lack of Funds for Its Maintenance  5. Interdependencies and Cascading Effects  6. Key Challenges for Critical Infrastructures Operation: Security-Political-Stability Related Scenarios  7. Hybrid Threats: The Hidden Danger to Critical Infrastructures  8. Critical Infrastructures Ownership: A Lever of Power and Political Influence  9. Conclusion References Index

Biography

Robert Mikac, PhD., is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. He also teaches at the Croatian Military Academy “Dr. Franjo Tuđman.” He specializes and has a scientific interest in the field of security studies, specifically in the areas of strategic management, crisis management and recovery, civil protection, migration, critical infrastructure protection, and cyber-security. He has expertise in Afghanistan and counterinsurgency operation themes. Prior to his academic career, he worked in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, civil protection, and the police. He has significant experience ranging from operational to strategic levels, both nationally and internationally, in matters related to international operations and project management. As an author and co-author, he has published eight books (in Croatian, English, and Macedonian) and around 60 scientific articles.

Alessandro Lazari, PhD., is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Security and Resilience of Critical Infrastructure (CRISR), Università del Salento, Lecce, Italy. He specialises in critical infrastructure security and resilience (CISR), EU regulatory frameworks— including the CER Directive, NIS2, and DORA — cyber/physical security, hybrid threats and crisis management. Prior to his current academic role, he gained extensive experience at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), KPMG, and F24 AG, working across operational, advisory, and policy levels in the field of critical infrastructure protection. He serves as an Expert Consultant for the OSCE and as lecturer at the NATO Centre of Excellence — Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT). He has significant national and international experience in applied research, regulatory compliance, and capacity building, spanning EU institutions, government bodies, and private sectoroperators. As an author and co-author, his publications include European Critical Infrastructure Protection (Springer, 2014), The External Dimension of the European Union’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Programme: From Neighbouring Frameworks to Transatlantic Cooperation (co-authored with R. Mikac, CRC Press, 2022), and Enabling NATO’s Collective Defense: Critical Infrastructure Security and Resiliency (NATO COE-DAT Handbook 1, US Army War College Press, 2022), as well as numerous peer-reviewed articles and policy contributions.