Vita
DAniel Gerlach

Daniel Gerlach was born in the city of Wuppertal (West-Germany) in 1977. After graduating from high school and completing his community service at a hospital in Hamburg, he began his studies in history and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Hamburg in 1998. In 2000-2001, Gerlach was a student at the University of Paris IV Sorbonne on a DAAD scholarship and obtained a licence d’histoire. He subsequently received the degree of a Magister Artium in Hamburg in 2005. His master thesis on Germany and the Middle East conflict in the 1960s und 1970s was published as a monograph.
During his studies, Gerlach worked as a freelance journalist and completed internships at the Deutsche Presse Agentur, Associated Press, German television ZDF (Paris Studio), among others. Later he wrote for newspapers such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt, Spiegel Online, brandeins and various magazines. In addition, Gerlach provided Middle East-related consulting for TV broadcasters and production companies, and became a writer and director of prime-time documentaries.
In 1999, Gerlach and five other students of Middle Eastern Studies founded the magazine zenith, which he has co-published ever since. In 2012 he assumed the position of zenith’s editor-in-chief. In 2008, Gerlach co-founded Deutscher Levante Verlag GmbH, a Berlin-based boutique publishing house that specializes in non-fiction and multimedia content on the Middle East, as well as international and intercultural issues. In 2013, Gerlach and the constitutional law scholar Dr. Naseef Naeem created ZENITH COUNCIL, a research and consulting group that develops scenarios and addresses issues of statehood in the Arab world.
In 2014, together with other Middle East specialists, Gerlach co-founded the Candid Foundation gGmbH, a think-and-do tank that promotes international and intercultural dialogue, implements innovative projects in the MENA region, and engages in peaceful conflict resolution. As the director general of the Candid Foundation, Gerlach is also operationally involved in the implementation of dialogue and mediation projects. Gerlach appears as a regular commentator and expert on the Middle East and the Muslim world on German and international news outlets. He has given presentations, briefings and trainings at numerous institutions including Princeton University, Yale University, Oxford University, European External Action Service (EEAS), King’s College, German Federal Foreign Office, Quai d’Orsay, University of Algiers III. Since 2021, Gerlach is an advisor to the Iraqi National Dialogue Initiative where he chairs an international expert delegation.