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Today’s newsletter starts a countdown of my choices for the five most important news stories of 2018. They’re not necessarily the ones that received the most attention this year. They are the ones likely to have long-term impact. For each one, I’ll offer a few reading suggestions that put the stories in perspective.

The countdown will run through Dec. 31 (although tomorrow I’ll pause the countdown for a bit of Christmas distraction). During this time, I’m going to take a break from writing about the latest news. I’ll be back to writing about the news on Jan. 1. In the meantime, The Times Opinion report will be full of commentary on the big stories, like the government shutdown and President Trump’s foreign policy — and, as always, you can find links to the Opinion report at the bottom of the newsletter.

I hope all of you enjoy the final days of the year, however you mark th em.

[Listen to “The Argument” podcast every Thursday morning, with Ross Douthat, Michelle Goldberg and David Leonhardt.]