In Ukraine, Expats and Romantics Are Out

The new Ukrainian cabinet, confirmed by the parliament on Thursday, is more interesting for the people it doesn't include than for those it does. Ukraine's experiment with bringing foreign reformers and private sector professionals into the government is now officially over, and it has failed.

President Petro Poroshenko tapped his long-time protege and ally, former parliament speaker Volodymyr Hroisman to form the government. The result, for the most part, is a cabinet of Poroshenko loyalists; the unpopular businessman-president is consolidating power, much the way his hapless predecessor Viktor Yanukovych once did. Though, at several points in the negotiating process, Hroisman reportedly refused the prime minister's job unless his conditions were met, these reports should be taken with a grain of salt: Poroshenko wants Hroisman to look independent, not least in the eyes of Washington politicians who have been wary of Poroshenko monopolizing power.