West Africa bureau chief for @washingtonpost 🇸🇳 Always @postlocal Say hi rachel.chason@washpost.com
Joined June 2014
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28 Feb 2025
This past weekend, @washingtonpost published our 16-page special section on the Sahel — a region of the world that over the past decade has been transformed by conflict.
A thread below of reporting highlights from 12 trips to the region & each of the stories in đź“°
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As Trump’s policies mean World Cup players and officials are being detained or barred entry into the U.S, read our dispatch from Cape Verde — an island nation with a history and team, which qualified for the first time this year, built on migration
wapo.st/43plexA
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Rachel Chason retweeted
Jun 9
PERSONAL NEWS: I've joined the @NewYorker full-time as a global-affairs columnist, where I'll be writing a weekly essay on the world. It's a dream gig and I'm still pinching myself that I get to say all these incredible, talented journalists I've long admired are my colleagues!
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May 27
ICYMI: Amazing reporting from @schmidtsam7, @Anthony_Faiola, @karendeyoung1 & @samueloakford on Trump's unofficial viceroy shaping policy in Venezuela
washingtonpost.com/world/202…
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Rachel Chason retweeted
May 27
Distrust and violence flare in the Democratic Republic of Congo as false claims spread that the outbreak — and the disease itself — is a hoax. wapo.st/4wYrhXw latest with @Rachel_Chason& @LaurenWeberHP
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Rachel Chason retweeted
A baby hippo only needs a couple of things to break the internet: a good story and a good amount of cuteness.
Bumpy has both — in abundance. And the world is in desperate need. wapo.st/4tNyl6c
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May 24
Angola has one of the oldest Catholic Churches in Africa. But when Pope Leo visited last month, many former Catholics were uninterested — they'd found homes in the Pentecostal church.
Our story on one of Catholicism's biggest threats, with @Anthony_Faiola
wapo.st/4nO32XG
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Rachel Chason retweeted
May 12
"The war in Iran has become a profound stress-test for the long-term economic futures of wealthy Gulf monarchies" -
@evanhalper & @Rachel_Chason
wapo.st/4eI3uEs
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May 11
Just after Feb. 28, the # of people searching on Property Finder in the UAE dropped by 70%
Now, searches are back to 80% of prewar levels, but transactions still at 60%
“People are still sitting on the bench, waiting to see what happens,” said the CRO
wapo.st/49o25iK
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Rachel Chason retweeted
Some thoughts about Mali and the Sahel. foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/04…
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Rachel Chason retweeted
May 5
#Mali La CFR, par la voix @etiooo, s'exprime pour la 1ère fois depuis les derniers évènements avec une proposition politique clairement énoncée. Ceci à un moment critique où la junte continue sur la voie de la répression @julienfanciulli @France24_fr youtube.com/watch?v=WAqVchs8…
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Rachel Chason retweeted
After military officers staged a coup in Mali, they ordered French troops to leave the country, ending a nearly decade-long Western-led anti-terrorism operation. Instead, the junta turned to Russia for help quelling a sprawling Islamist insurgency. wapo.st/4unUcSI
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Rachel Chason retweeted
Apr 30
Mali's authorities probably will try to “reestablish their image” by escalating the fight, potentially bringing in more Russian fighters.
My colleague @IbrahimYahayaIb tells @WashingtonPost’s @Rachel_Chason.
washingtonpost.com/world/202…
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Apr 30
But it's not just the Russians who've failed to help Mali's gov -- there's a long history of failed interventions in Mali, including by the French, U.S., U.N. and neighbors in the Sahel.
“There is a lot of blame to go around,” said @tweetsintheME.
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Apr 30
“Everyone has their share of responsibility, including Mali’s government," @tweetsintheME said.
The next steps by Africa Corps remain uncertain. “If the Russians pull out, then that is a huge problem for the Malian government,” he said. “There isn’t really another option..."
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Apr 30
“There is a massive power vacuum here,” said an official in Bamako. “No one knows what is going on. It might sound melodramatic, but it’s not clear what government we still have.”
Our story on Mali, which is barely holding together after days of fighting:
washingtonpost.com/world/202…
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Apr 30
@CorinneDufka warned that the U.S. must think carefully about any intervention, given the “complicated ethnic and political landscape” in Mali.
“There are so many moving parts, but what is clear is that there is apparently no military solution to this,” she said.
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Apr 30
“They didn’t have the same standards nor were they constrained by the same rules of engagement, and they still couldn’t get the job done,” @DrJPPham said of the Russians.
Pham argued that it was in the U.S. interest for the Trump administration to get more involved.
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Apr 30
If the junta in Mali survives, @IbrahimYahayaIb said , the authorities probably will try to “reestablish their image” by escalating the fight, potentially bringing in more Russian fighters. “If the regime doesn’t survive,” he added, “it could be all hell breaking loose.”
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Apr 30
“We are struggling to make sense of this, even those who have studied this for years,” said @IbrahimYahayaIb, adding that the strikes “hit at the heart of Mali’s power.” “The Russians were their main bet, and they really suffered a major setback.”
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Rachel Chason retweeted
Apr 28
Some news!! So, so excited to join @CNN next month for this dream job — and with enormous gratitude for almost nine years at the @washingtonpost. ❤️❤️❤️
Apr 28
Rachel Siegel has joined CNN Business as a reporter covering economic policy and how it shapes American life. Welcome to CNN, @rachsieg!
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