Lawfare Daily: Dispatches from the Sahel, with Rachel Chason and John Lechner

The Lawfare Podcast

The Lawfare Institute

Military, Intelligence, International Law, Constitutional Law, Rule Of Law, Politics, International Relations, News, Government, History, Diplomacy, Terrorism, National Security, Current Events, Law, Foreign Policy

4.7 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On today’s episode, the Washington Post's West Africa bureau chief Rachel Chason and freelance journalist John Lechner join Lawfare Managing Editor Tyler McBrien to talk about the current state of the Sahel and the many forces that have converged in the region over the past couple of years.

They discussed Chason’s new series out in the Post, “Crossroads of Conflict,” which includes six rich portraits of Sahelian actors, including: an Islamist militant, a militia commander, a Russian mercenary, an American soldier, a coup leader, and a defiant broadcaster. They also talked about Lechner’s forthcoming book, “Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare.”

We value your feedback! Help us improve by sharing your thoughts at lawfaremedia.org/survey. Your input ensures that we deliver what matters most to you. Thank you for your support—and, as always, for listening!

To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The following podcast contains advertising.
0:04.4	To access an ad-free version of the Lawfare podcast, become a material supporter of Lawfare at
0:11.5	patreon.com slash lawfare. That's patreon.com slash lawfare.
0:18.2	Also, check out Lawfare's other podcast offerings rational security chatter lawfare no bull
0:26.4	and the aftermath he feels very strongly that Burkina Faso is in like the fight of its life
0:36.7	against the jihadist.
0:38.9	And so that was why he focused so much on raising that militia.
0:43.2	And he's been successful at raising the militia, at boosting their numbers, at getting them
0:47.7	more supplies.
0:49.3	It's the Lawfare podcast.
0:51.3	I'm Tyler McBrion, managing editor of Lawfare, with the Washington Post's
0:55.4	West Africa Bureau Chief Rachel Chasen, an author and freelance journalist John Lechner.
1:01.3	I mean, it's ultimately folks in the Sahel who will solve these issues between each other.
1:08.7	I don't think that the American soldiers or French soldiers or Russian
1:13.9	Wagner or any Russian soldiers have the answers.
1:19.3	Today, we're talking about the current state of the Sahel, as well as Rachel's new series of
1:24.2	profiles from the region called Crossroads of Conflict in the Washington Post
1:27.8	and John's new book, Death is Our Business, Russian mercenaries, and the new era of private warfare.
1:35.3	So Rachel, I want to start with your reporting and your series of profiles that came out very recently in the Washington Post
1:42.7	that tell different stories of different
1:47.2	dynamics converging in the Sahel. So I just want to start with one of those profiles, the Islamist
1:53.9	militant. Can you tell us a bit about who you profiled there and also what it, what you're
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Lawfare Institute, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Lawfare Institute and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.