The call to the White House came out of the blue. It was a nondescript email captioned “An invitation”; the sender's address was: nsc.eop.gov. Having worked Pennsylvania Avenue for 35 years, I knew the initials meant National Security Council, Executive Office of the President.This article first appeared in slightly modified form in the London publication Times Higher Education Supplement on June 29, 2007, under the title “Mr Bush, this is the way I see it.”