Shortly after the speech, Mr. Karzai issued a formal decree banning foreign forces from entering Afghan universities and detaining students.

WSJ: Karzai Says Taliban 'in Service to America'

Both sides have now adopted the idea of a royal charter - a formal document used to set up bodies such as universities and the BBC - but there are key differences between the two plans.

BBC: Bob and Sally Dowler giving evidence at Leveson

One of the hardest puzzles for mass higher education is how to make those universities that are not part of some such elite, whether formal or informal, concentrate on their students' needs rather than their own position in a pecking order based on research.

ECONOMIST: Higher learning and the middle classes