I don’t know a great deal about Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the Libyan colonel’s son – he’s not the one who played for an Italian Serie A football club until he got banned for using steroids, who was the only junior Gadhafi I’d heard of.

However, he seems to think that it would be a good idea for Middle Eastern countries to bring in things like democracy and human rights, and for rulers not to pass power on to their sons, and that Israel has some good points.

It goes without saying that he’s right. It’s less clear that he necessarily believes the above, it’s less clear that he has his dad’s permission to say what he’s saying, and it’s less clear – even if he does and does – that it will actually have any effect on Moammar’s policies.

My guess, not enormously evidence-based, is that he does believe what he’s saying, he does have Moammar’s permission (because the colonel wants the West to like him…), but that it won’t have much policy effect for a while.