The UK has punished Belarus for arresting Roman Protasevich by forbidding Belarus's airline from flying to the UK and ordering British planes not to fly over Belarus.

That is a substantial step, but I think it is inadequate. At the very least, other countries should ban any flights between their airports and Belarus — regardless of which airline — and ban flights from or to Belarus from crossing their airspace. This would cut off Belarus from air transportation with anywhere except Russia.

As a separate matter, they should to prohibit flights that have crossed Belarusian airspace from entering their airspace. That would would not punish Belarus any further, but it would make all flights avoid the territory of Belarus, and that would ensure the safety of passengers in those flights.

Belarus is not the only country which interfered with travel in foreign country's civilian aircraft. When Snowden was seeking a way to reach Bolicia, and the US wanted to keep him stuck in Russia, the plane of the president of Bolicia went to Europe. The US suspected it would bring Snowden to Bolivia on its return there, and had its allies compel the plane to land in a country which then forcibly searched it.

Fortunately, Snowden was not aboard.

They did not threaten violence against the plane or order it to land at a specific place. But they did box it in by forbidding it to enter various countries' airspace. And they likewise compelled Bolivia to allow it to be searched.

It would be a mistake to draw blanket conclusions about the US government or the Belarus government from this. Each one is capable of doing evil. Lukashenko's regime is unremitting tyranny and unremitting evil; the US has some hope of being better.