International Consultant | Political Scientist | Sociologist

Ricardo René Larémont, J.D., Ph.D., is a political scientist, sociologist, and international consultant whose work focuses on political Islam, Islamic law, comparative governance, conflict resolution, and civil–military relations. Over nearly three decades of research, teaching, and advisory engagement across North Africa, West Africa, the Sahel, and the wider Muslim world, his career has been shaped by a sustained effort to understand how religion, law, and political authority interact in historically and institutionally specific contexts.

Larémont is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Sociology at SUNY Binghamton, where he pursued a career that combined scholarship, undergraduate and graduate teaching, and academic leadership. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law, a combination that has informed his long-standing interest in legal systems, constitutional authority, and the political uses of law in both democratic and non-democratic settings.

His scholarly work examines Islamist movements, Islamic legal traditions, and state–society relations in Africa and the Middle East through a comparative and historically grounded lens. He is the author of the forthcoming textbook Political Islam: Movements, Ideologies, and Governance in Comparative Perspective (Routledge, January 2026), which offers a systematic comparative analysis of Islamist ideas, organizational forms, and governing practices across the Muslim world. His earlier books include Islam and the Politics of Resistance in Algeria; Islamic Law and Politics in Northern Nigeria; Revolution, Revolt, and Reform in North Africa; Borders, Nationalism, and the African State; and The Causes of War and the Consequences of Peacekeeping in Africa. His articles have appeared in journals such as The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, The Journal of North African Studies, and Stability: International Journal of Security & Development.

In recent work, Larémont has turned attention to Moroccan foreign policy, developing an International Relations framework he terms “sovereignty entrepreneurship.” This body of research analyzes how Morocco has converted contested sovereignty over Western Sahara into diplomatic capital and regional influence across the Maghreb, the Sahel, and Francophone Africa. The project contributes to broader debates on regional statecraft, security cooperation, economic diplomacy, and the management of great-power relations by middle powers.

Alongside his academic work, Larémont has served as an advisor and consultant to international and governmental institutions, including the United Nations, the African Union, the European Commission, and the U.S. Departments of State and Defense. His advisory work has focused on governance reform, mediation, security-sector transformation, and political transitions in fragile and conflict-affected states, with an emphasis on empirically grounded and institutionally realistic approaches to peacebuilding and reform.