BORIS NEMTSOV

. As late as February 26, he publicly promised a major cabinet shake-up. The left expected to gain positions of influence.

When it came, though, the shake-up was a mere jiggle. The transport and education ministers were replaced by their deputies in a move of negligible political importance. A more significant reorganization of the national-security policy-making apparatus seemed aimed at boosting the prospects for downsizing and modernizing the Russian military. That could only push the left further into opposition and into alliance with disaffected officers like General