Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012 - (Page 29)

Larémont worries that a series of recent crises will prevent the United States from focusing on the situation in Africa and the Middle East. “When you look at the economic crisis of 2008 and the failure to develop an educational strategy to deal with the deindustrialization of America, and you couple that with a military adventure in Iraq that yielded more costs than benefits, it’s like being punched first by Muhammad Ali,

then by Joe Frazier and then by Mike Tyson,” he says. “You have three crises in a row.” He believes that Americans have the ability to understand that these crises occurred as well as the resources, both material and human, to deal with them. But it’s going to take time. “The U.S. budget is essentially broken, so we obviously have to take care of this home front,” Larémont

says. “But even while we focus on this home front, we have to realize that there are things happening overseas that may affect our security. The urgent task is to remain focused on threats developing overseas while at the same time finding a way to jumpstart this economy. Until that’s done, we won’t get security here or security overseas.” — Rachel Coker

CONGRESS CALLS ON SCHOLAR’S EXPERTISE
Ricardo René Larémont recently testified before Congress regarding Muslim extremist groups in northern Africa. He discussed the potential threat posed by the groups Boko Haram, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab. “What I told the committee is that military options are not necessarily the most important,” Larémont says. “When you look at northern Nigeria, where Boko Haram is trying to grow, you have a society in which about 20 to 25 percent of the women are educated. You have high levels of fertility among women. And when you combine high fertility with low literacy, you have a recipe for social, economic and political disaster. Also, you do not have a U.S. diplomatic or developmental presence on the ground whatsoever, so you do not have any idea about what is going on.” Larémont had about a week to prepare his Nov. 30 remarks for the House Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. He was given just five minutes to read his remarks before members of the subcommittee posed questions. Essentially, he says, the U.S. concern is that Islamist extremists are gathering strength in the Sahel, a region between the Sahara and tropical Africa. The committee wanted to understand the degree to which these groups are “aspirational” vs. “operational” in nature. Larémont offered a brief history of three jihadist groups and his views on their possible plans in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. He expects that Boko Haram, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab will attempt to expand their operations now that Muammar Qaddafi’s regime no longer exists. Even though Qaddafi was unpredictable in many ways, he played an important role in stabilizing the countries of the Sahel, Larémont says. The security vacuum created by Qaddafi’s ouster may offer an opportunity for jihadist groups to work together to destabilize several states in West Africa. Ricardo René Larémont testifies before Congress in November.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012

Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012
Contents
About Binghamton Research
Welcome
Briefs
Digital defenders
Jockeying for genetic advantage
The unfiltered truth
Spring awakening
Wall Street watchdog
Principles of the universe demand principled engineers
Engineering and Science Building
Graduate research
Undergraduate research
A piece of the puzzle
Crossword puzzle

Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012