Will Italy Send in the Clowns?

In the coming days, all eyes will be on yet another European election in which a host of populist and nationalist parties are threatening to upend the status quo.But with no party expected to win a majority, nostalgia for today's dysfunctional Italian status quo may grow after the votes have been counted.Bill Emmott marvels that Silvio Berlusconi, after being forced out of the premiership in 2011, is a potential kingmaker.Dominique Moisi suggests that Italy could follow Austria's lead by forming a government of the right and the extreme right.Jan Werner-Mueller points out that a victory for the populist Fire Star Movement would most likely serve only its leaders' interests.And Paola Subacchi says the next government, whatever form it takes, will have no choice but to fix Italy's troubled banking sector.