Continental drift: demagogues and the dangerous tide of anti-immigrant populism.

SILVIO BERLUSCONI WAS TRAILING his center-left rival, Romano Prodi, in polls preceding Italy's general elections on April 9 and 10. So, less than two weeks before the vote, he did what most politicians in such situations do: He moved to shore up the base--his allies in the hard right Italian Northern League. His chosen method? He aimed his crosshairs on the country's Muslim immigrants. "We don't want Italy to become a multiethnic, multicultural country," he told the state-run radio in late March. "We are proud of our traditions."

In this, Berlusconi is ...

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