Dating advice from Berlusconi

No surprise that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusoni and Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi seem to be extremely fond of each other: they’re both prone to making extremely… questionable… comments. Berlusconi put on his old sage hat Sunday and offered this relationship advice: I said to a girl to look for a wealthy boyfriend. This ...

TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images
TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images
TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images

No surprise that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusoni and Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi seem to be extremely fond of each other: they're both prone to making extremely... questionable... comments. Berlusconi put on his old sage hat Sunday and offered this relationship advice:

No surprise that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusoni and Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi seem to be extremely fond of each other: they’re both prone to making extremely… questionable… comments. Berlusconi put on his old sage hat Sunday and offered this relationship advice:

I said to a girl to look for a wealthy boyfriend. This suggestion is not unrealistic.

Berlusconi, being famously wealthy himself, noted that women are drawn to him because he’s a "nice guy" — and oh yeah, that "I’m loaded." He went on to say women like older men because they think, "‘he’s old. He dies and I inherit.’" Classy.

Of course Berlusconi’s trysts are well known. He’s been accused by his wife of putting attractive young women on his party lists in European elections, and last year he was embroiled in a scandal over his ‘companionships‘ with a slew of women. His wife is seeking a divorce.

As if his comments on women weren’t bad enough, he went ahead and made a Hitler joke — based on the premise of Hitler’s followers urging him to return to power. Berlusconi preemptively acknowledged his crassness, saying "I already know I am going to be criticized."

Andrew Swift is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.

More from Foreign Policy

A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.
A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.

No, the World Is Not Multipolar

The idea of emerging power centers is popular but wrong—and could lead to serious policy mistakes.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.
The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.

America Can’t Stop China’s Rise

And it should stop trying.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.

The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky

The ethical calculations are less clear than you might think.