Putin’s playthings
Nato's response to the Skripal poisoning has revealed its disunity
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Penny foolish
The 1p piece is useless, but it is less than half a century since it was bright and new
Dürer’s diversion
A Milan exhibition shows how much Dürer was influenced by the Italian masters
Unsafe space
How can students win the battle for free speech on campus?
Trump’s big gamble on North Korea
The US President may yet confound his critics
Cyril Ramaphosa’s poisoned chalice
South Africa's new leader has a near-impossible task ahead of him
Presidents for life Putin and Xi menace the West
A former diplomat and politician during the Cold War asks whether the threats posed by Russia and China are now more ominous than ever
Nation states could save the Middle East
For decades the West has backed the wrong models of reform for the turbulent region. Donald Trump’s vision offers a glimmer of hope
Philip Pullman: siding with Satan
The fantasy writer is indebted to the Inklings, whose Christianity he rejects in favour of gnosticism
Is university for all working?
The helter-skelter expansion of higher education may be good for individuals but has sharpened value divides in society
How to succeed in Number Ten
Andrew Gimson's portraits of our 54 prime ministers are lucid, pithy and perceptive
Documenting a disaster magnet
Tibor Fischer’s new novel How To Rule The World is a bleakly brilliant picaresque