Italy is about to take a strong right turn that could shatter glass ceilings.
ROME — Italy is set to hold a record-breaking election on Sunday that is predicted to produce the nation's first female prime minister and its most far-right administration since Mussolini's downfall. The Fratelli d'Italia party of Giorgia Meloni, a formerly marginal figure who vows to defend "traditional" social values, block paths for undocumented immigrants, and fight back against the "obscure bureaucrats" of Brussels, is expected to win the election. This coalition includes two far-right forces. While the rise of Meloni and the far right may ultimately prove to be a watershed moment in European politics, uniting Italy with Poland and Hungary in an anti-liberal bloc, it is challenging for leaders to maintain control in Rome, where zigzags are common and the average term of office is just 400 days. Given her concern over the rising cost of energy and the tensions within her own coalition, Meloni would face immediate challenges both at home and in Europ...