Migration policies are in a state of flux across the world, causing consternation and angst in dozens of countries.

In recent weeks the US government has drawn global condemnation for taking children away from their parents while in Brussels leaders of 16 European countries struggled this weekend to find common ground at a mini-summit on migration. After the global outcry, President Donald Trump finally gave way to pressure, signing an executive order to stop the practice of splitting up families, a policy some described as an act of state terrorism against helpless children. For many of these children, damage may already have been done. As psychiatrist Jacek Debiec explains, any serious and prolonged disruption in parental care alters how the young brain develops, leaving behind emotional scars.

Saudi Arabian women have taken to their cars to mark the end of the country’s ban on women driving, the most visible of a bundle of initiatives taken by the Saudi king and the crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, to strengthen the role of women. Martin Hvidt argues that the initiatives have all been driven by the need to boost the economy by making both women and men more productive at work.