1. Our Man in Africa: A great article on former president of Chad Hissene Habre. Also, is current Chadian president Idris Deby a clandestine state-builder in the Sahel or is all this just empty waste of oil money? Whatever the answer, I think the Chadian state might have reached a point where it can’t be threatened by a bunch of bandits on technicals.

2. On the hunt for human uniqueness: If you dropped a dozen human toddlers on a beautiful Polynesian island with shelter and enough to eat, but no computers, no cell phones, and no metal tools, would they grow up to be like humans we recognize or like other primates? Would they invent language? Without the magic sauce of culture and technology, would humans be that different from chimpanzees? More here.

3. Will e-cigarettes re-normalize smoking? E-cigarettes are already allowed in jails where traditional cigarettes are banned.

4. The Unruled World: Global disorder is here to stay, so the challenge is to make it work as well as possible.

5. and How China is ruled.