In his book about the Syrian government and the sectarian element of the armed conflict, Gerlach makes reference to the method of French sociologist
Michel Seurat. He argues that the essential core of Syrian government was not simply a group of people around the
Assad family, but a distinct logic of thinking and behaviour, an ideology described as implicitly sectarian. In 2014, Gerlach suggested that an international diplomatic initiative of Western countries should engage Russia and oblige it to assume the role of a protective force for parts of Syria in order to untangle the interests of international stakeholders and to prevent unilateral action. In an article published simultaneously in English, German, and Russian in 2017, Gerlach suggested that
Saudi Arabia, a regional power that officially supported
armed insurgents in Syria, had secretly endorsed or even "encouraged" the
2015 Russian military intervention in support of the Syrian regime. This analysis was corroborated in 2020 by news media reports stating that Saudi crown prince
Mohammed bin Salman had secretly encouraged
Russia to intervene and, in this way, "angered"
CIA director
John Brennan. With regard to the so-called
Islamic State, its strategy of displaying acts of extreme violence, Gerlach argues that there was nothing intrinsically “Islamic” about it. He suggests to also study analogies with Latin American
drug cartels. In an article co-authored with Naseef Naeem, a Syrian-born associate professor of state and constitutional law, both reject the use of the terms “state” or “state building” project by media and academics on IS. They argue that the organisation's project lacked key elements of statehood and, instead, suggest to call it a warfaring occupying force with an “imperial” ideology. In an article about the ideology of resistance and the operational features of Shia militias and the Iraqi
Hashd al-Shaabi Gerlach criticises the attribution of “jihadist” and, as opposed to groups like
Al-Qaida or the Islamic State, suggests to qualify them as “muqawamist” instead (from the Arabic muqawama for “resistance”). In a contribution for the
Washington Institute for Near East Policy about the war for Syria and the escalation of violence in Idlib in 2019, Gerlach argued that sectarianism and prejudice against elements of the population were fueling certain war tactics and that, therefore, community leaders in Syria were an often-overlooked stakeholder in shaping the country's future and in mitigating against the sectarian divide. == Selected publications ==