The left, Kazin argues, has failed to build up the same network of institutions that have fueled the rightwing insurgency.

FORBES: The Decline of the Populist Left and the Rise of the Tea Party

In recent months, Berlusconi has been plotting his political resurrection, agreeing to an electoral pact with the rightwing Northern League.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The report comes at a sensitive time for the World Bank, which has been under attack from rightwing critics in the United States who would like to cut its funding radically.

BBC: African economies 'in reverse'