With a fortnight so full of extraordinary events one is bound to overlook, or perhaps not even hear of, the smaller happenings that might have clamoured for one’s attention some other time.

For what we got this time was news, new things, things you are not likely to witness for another decade or half century. Look, an aeroplane as big as 20 — maybe 40 — elephants joined tail to tail takes off, and after some time vanishes into thin air. Just like that. A bit like those Macbeth witches did after prophesying glory and doom for him.

The whole world wondered, worried. Where had the plane vanished to? Had it crashed, and if so where? Was it hijacked by terrorists, or another asylum seeker with a rich imagination?

Was it extra-terrestrial intelligent life doing a little technological espionage to see what we had to offer in terms of new gadgets? Still, spare a thought for those who had/have relatives, colleagues and friends on that fateful MH 370. And for those on board, of course.

At the same time as this was happening, Vladimir Putin offered another new thing to gawk over. By taking an opportunity born of the law of unintended consequences, the Kremlin chief decided to add a little extra real estate to his Russian federation. In effect, as from somewhere between last Monday and Tuesday, the province known as Crimea is part of Russia.

How did he do it? I don’t know, but in the world of diplomacy and power politics, I suspect it’s costly to be perceived as weak.

In this particular case Russia saw the weakness in the leadership of the west, especially what is perceived as Barack Obama’s lack of appetite for a military showdown. America’s morale has been sapped by earlier engagements, and its resolve to want to try another one is not in evidence.

The unintended consequence was what came out as Russia’s response when some hotheads in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, seized power, declaring their desire to join the European Union rather than remaining a Russian backyard and making noises that identified them as ultra rightists. The ousted government must be playing government in exile right now in Moscow.

The swiftness with which the judoka in the Kremlin reacted is impressive. It shows a man assured of himself and his capability.

It also shows that Russia will grab whatever opportunity – sometimes excuses – to grab any chance to restore the power and glory that Russia lost with the demise of the Soviet Union. It is going to take more than glib talk of sanctions to deter Putin, the veritable modern day Tsar.

The world is abuzz about these extraordinary events and their contrasting speeds: The slow progress registered in the search and rescue operations regarding the Malaysian airline and the stunning dispatch with which the Russians moved to effectively change the geography of Europe.

Security

Will the security and welfare of Russians in other parts of the former Soviet Union invite similar actions? Who knows, but I suspect political actors in that whole region will be wary of what Moscow might do if it felt that its interests and/or the interests of its kin were threatened.

That is Realpolitik in action, and there is little that the West can do about it, having itself lost all the power it could have had to offer lessons to others.

While we were all preoccupied with these news stories, real novel items, how could we have noticed that one of ours is in apparent trouble from an institution in his country that is querying him on his house and the money spent on “upgrading” it.

Yes, it is true that we were looking skyward in the hope of sighting the ill-fated plane, and at the same time cocking our ears towards Sevastopol, Moscow, Kiev and Brussels to follow the events surrounding the cutting up of Ukraine.

Who would have paid attention to Thuli Mandosela, South Africa’s public protector saying that too much public money had been spent upgrading Zuma’s kraal to accommodate all his wives on his retirement. Is that news?

Jenerali Ulimwengu is chairman of the board of the Raia Mwema newspaper and an advocate of the High Court in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: [email protected]