Malaysia Flight #MH17 Downing is Major Game-Changer for International Politics

The story's still developing, especially on whether pro-Russia separatists shot down the jetliner.

At U.S. News and World Report, "The Geopolitical Fallout of a Plane Shot Down: If a plane was shot down by Russian rebels, Putin will face fallout."

Also from Duke University political scientist Peter Feaver, at Foreign Policy, "The Downed Malaysia Airlines Plane Is a Game Changer for Ukraine."

And from Julia Ioffe, at the New Republic, "The Crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Is a Game Changer":

Make no mistake: this is a really, really, really big deal. This is the first downing of a civilian jetliner in this conflict and, if it was the rebels who brought it down, all kinds of ugly things follow. For one thing, what seemed to be gelling into a frozen local conflict has now broken into a new phase, one that directly threatens European security. The plane, let's recall, was flying from Amsterdam.

For another, U.S. officials have long been saying that there's only one place that rebels can get this kind of heavy, sophisticated weaponry: Russia. This is why a fresh round of sanctions was announced yesterday. Now, the U.S. and a long-reluctant Europe may be forced to do more and implement less surgical and more painful sanctions.

Well, maybe the Europeans will step up support for Ukraine, but Obama won't do a damned thing. What, 23 Americans were on board? Meh, "it's a terrible tragedy."

More from Ioffe here.