Continuously increasing complexity and interconnectedness of modern critical infrastructures, together with increasingly complex risk environments, pose unique challenges for their secure, reliable, and efficient operation. The focus of the present dissertation is on the modelling, simulation and optimization of critical infrastructures (CIs) (e.g., power transmission networks) with respect to their vulnerability and resilience to cascading failures. This study approaches the problem by firstly modelling CIs at a fundamental level, by focusing on network topology and physical flow patterns within the CIs. A hierarchical network modelling technique is introduced for the management of system complexity. Within these modelling frameworks, adva...