Dr. Alexandra Paulus

Project Director "Cybersecurity Policy and Resilience"

Dr. Alexandra Paulus is Project Director for Cybersecurity Policy and Resilience. Her expertise covers cyber diplomacy, German and European cyber foreign policy, and cyber norms implementation. She leads SNV’s cyber diplomacy projects. Currently, these focus on two issues: software supply chain security in the context of cyber diplomacy and cyber norms implementation, and the political attribution of cyber operations. She also follows the United Nations process on cybersecurity, including the Open-Ended Working Group, which she has addressed on behalf of SNV. Previously, she worked on instruments of cyber diplomacy, governmental responses to state-backed cyber operations, and the nexus between cyber norms implementation and cyber capacity building.

Alexandra Paulus has spoken at international conferences including the Internet Governance Forum and EU Cyber Direct’s Closing the Gap Conference. Her presentations at academic conferences include the International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention, the European workshops in International Studies (EWIS), the World international Studies Committee’s (WISC) Global International Studies Conference, and the Biannual Congress of the German Political Science Association (DVPW). Her commentary was published by Council on Foreign Relations, Israel Public Policy Institute, Der Standard, Directions Blog, and Development and Peace Foundation, among others. She has been cited or interviewed by media outlets including the BBC, The Washington Post, Sky News, Euractiv, Tagesspiegel, and Risky Business. 

Before joining SNV, Alexandra Paulus completed her Ph.D. in political science on Brazil's role in the construction of global cyber norms. Previously, as deputy head of the Brazil office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Rio de Janeiro, she studied Brazilian domestic and foreign policy and Latin American security dynamics. Moreover, she worked in NGOs and the private sector in Germany and Latin America. She holds an M.A. in Public Policy and Governance from the University of Passau and completed research stays in Ankara, Turkey, and Guadalajara, Mexico. 

In addition, Alexandra Paulus is a Non-resident Fellow with the European Cyber Conflict Research Initiative (ECCRI). She is also a member of Women in International Security Germany (WIIS.de) and a member of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Task Force on Confidence Building Measures, Norms Implementation and Cyber Diplomacy.

Email address: 
apaulus@stiftung-nv.de
Telephone: 
+49 (0)30 81 45 03 78 80
On Twitter: 
@ale_paulus
Expertise: 

Big news

This coming spring, SNV will start its path towards becoming a European think tank, and change its name to interface.