Areas of Expertise

• European Security and Defense Policy
• Transatlantic Relationship
• Diplomacy / Attaché Corps

Academic Degrees

• Diplomingenieur Maschinenbau (FH) (M.S., Mechanical Engineering) Bundeswehr University, Munich
• Master in Studi Internazionali Strategico-Militari (M.A., International Military Strategy Studies), LUISS University, Rome

German Army Col. Konrad Lau joined the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies as a military professor in October 2022. In this role, he served in various course director positions for Marshall Center resident programs, most notably the Program on Applied Security Studies. In summer 2024, he became head of the Department for Regional Security Studies. 

Prior to joining the Marshall Center, Lau served as defense attaché in Santiago de Chile, where he was accredited to Chile, Ecuador, and Paraguay. He is a graduate of the German Armed Forces General Staff Course in Hamburg and of the Italian Armed Forces General Staff Course in Rome. He also holds a diploma in strategic political management and defense from the National Defense Academy of the Armed Forces of Chile.

Lau has held various leadership and staff positions in the German Armed Forces with a focus on international cooperation, including as liaison officer to the Italian Armed Forces in Italy and service with the German Ministry of Defense in Berlin.

He deployed to Kosovo as battalion commander and to Afghanistan in several roles, including deputy chief of staff of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) and Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) and senior advisor to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

Lau’s awards include the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Honor Medals of the German Armed Forces; the NATO Kosovo Forces Medal and the Kosovo Medal; the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Medal and the Afghanistan ISAF Medal; the NATO Resolute Support Medal and the Afghanistan Resolute Support Medal; and the Meritorious Service Award Medal for contributions to the NTM-A and CSTC-A.