Ideas | The Observer

After Venezuela

It’s time for Europe to confront reality

Fawning and flattery isn’t going to cut it anymore. With a hostile Putin to their east and an out-of-control Trump to their west, Europe needs to find a new form of muscular courage

By John Kampfner

Columnists

Kenan Malik

Trump has laid bare the myth of a rules-based order

The president’s crude ‘might is right’ language has broken the code of hypocrisy that allowed old habits of empire to continue

Frank Skinner

Life is for grabbing by the Bazballs

England may have lost the Ashes but we could all do with more of their on-the-front-foot, fearless self-belief

John Niven

Time has caught up on Tiger Woods – and it’s cost me

It once looked as though the master golfer would always be a surefire bet, but an ill-advised punt has left me in the rough

Sarah Manavis

Why I’m warming to saunas

They are undeniably trendy, even here in Britain, but don’t let that put you off. A visit to the cabin can be bliss

The Observer view

The real special relationship

Might is not right

Britain cannot afford Reform

The return of Erasmus brings glad tidings

Opinion

Rob Macaire

With a unifying leader, Iran’s protests could become a revolution

‘Gorbachev moments’ happen only when it is clear who will be taking power

Philip Collins

Pensioners have been cushioned for too long. It’s time for Labour to get off the sofa on welfare

Ending the triple lock would be a high-risk move. But there is a dividend for clarity and honesty in politics

Jack Straw

Iran’s uprising may succeed, but there will be no uplands of democracy for a long time

Economic desperation has given the protests real momentum. But the likeliest replacement for ailing Khamenei will be from within the Revolutionary Guard

David Barnett

‘After the first round of chemo, I was chipper … then I hated it with a vengeance’

Suddenly, I knew the cancer I thought I was tackling alone, albeit with support, wasn’t that unusual after all

Law and disorder

With his eye on Venezuela’s oil and Greenland’s minerals, Donald Trump has done his best to blow up the rules-based order. But the barrister and academic Philippe Sands believes humanity will find a way to work together again soon, because we always do

Opinion and ideas