At the beginning of the Biden presidency, many of us serving in the National Security Council gathered to read the intelligence and reached a key conclusion: The 2020s would be what we called the “decisive decade” in U.S. competition with China. Beijing seeks to displace the United States from its …

Listen to and follow ‘The Opinions’Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio Despite concerns over the falling birthrate, especially on the right, the Times Opinion columnist David French recognizes that the push to have more families — and bigger ones — has become problematic. In this …

In August, health officials recorded the first case of polio in Gaza in more than 25 years, in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby whose lower left leg became paralyzed by the virus. Sadness and frustration washed over me when I first heard the news. It is outrageous that polio — which …

There’s hardly a spot of color on the hardwood trees in our yard, but the light is glorious, as it always is in October, and the signs of fall are unmistakable. The pokeweed, in full berry-laden splendor at the end of September, has been reduced to drooping leaves and magenta …

OpenAI is now worth as much as Goldman Sachs or AT&T. The artificial intelligence start-up behind ChatGPT has also said it intends to shed its status as a nonprofit to become a for-profit business within two years. Outside experts and OpenAI employees have expressed concern that as a result, the …

I watched the ultrasound screen as my OB-GYN counted my follicles, the egg-producing sacs in my ovaries. They looked like the black holes in NASA images. I had more than 30 inside me. The sight unnerved me. My doctor seemed excited. “Those are some juicy-looking ovaries!” she said. Her comment …

In a surprising turn of events, the presidential candidates have been talking about food. Food can be a winning topic, but we need to hear much more. Donald Trump (seemingly influenced by his new ally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), is talking about making “America Healthy Again.” How? “We’re going to …

Gail Collins: Bret, Kamala Harris sure seems proud of her gun ownership, doesn’t she? Bret Stephens: Think of Aretha Franklin singing, “G-L-O-C-K (E), find out what it means to me.” Gail: Hadn’t thought about it until she told Oprah Winfrey that if someone breaks into her house, “they’re getting shot.” …

Governments often chafe at the presence of a free press. The reason is simple: A robust and independent news media keeps a sharp eye on government and, when necessary, exposes abuse of power, corruption, incompetence and waste. Exposing such things depends, of course, not just on journalists but also on …

This is the second in an occasional series about Donald Trump’s statements and language and what’s at stake in the election. Do you remember the California electricity crisis of 2000 and ’01? I do, because I wrote about it a lot at the time and stuck my neck out by …