Professor Masala studied political science, German and Romance Philology from 1988-1992. In 1996 he received his doctorate degree with a thesis on German-Italian relations in the period 1963-1969 and was awarded the venia legendi for political science in December 2002.

After a substitute professorship at the Geschwister-Scholl-Institute of the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich in the summer semester 2003, he moved to the NATO Defense College in Rome at the beginning of 2004, where he worked in the research department, first as Research Advisor and from 2006 as Deputy Director.

In March 2007, he was appointed as Professor of International Politics at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich, which he accepted on July 1, 2007. Since January 2024, Professor Masala is Director of the Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies (CISS) at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich.

Prof. Masala is co-editor of the Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) and the Zeitschrift für Strategische Analysen (ZfSA). He is also a member of the scientific advisory board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy, a permanent expert in the German Bundestag's Enquete Commission on the Afghanistan mission and a member of the "Science Year 2024" board of trustees at the Federal Ministry of Research and Education. In May 2024 he was elected a full member of Section II: Law, Social and Economic Sciences of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Since 2018, he has co-hosted the podcast Sicherheitshalber.

In 2022, his book "Weltunordnung. Die globalen Krisen und die Illusion des Westens" was published in its 8th edition (C.H. Beck). Since the beginning of March 2022, he has been a regular contributor to the stern podcast "Ukraine - die Lage". His book "Bedingt Abwehrbereit - Deutschlands Schwäche in der Zeitenwende" was also published by C.H. Beck in 2023. Furthermore, his new book "Warum die Welt keinen Frieden findet" was published in its 2nd by Brandstätter Verlag at the beginning of 2024.

Prof. Masala received the Lichtenberg Medal in Gold from the Lower Saxony Academy of Sciences in Göttingen in 2023 for his academic work and science communication. In October 2023, Professor Masala was also awarded the Rohde Prize of the University of the German Armed Forces for his scientific work.