Director, International Relations Program; TRN419Y1
Biography
Timothy Andrews Sayle is Assistant Professor of History and Director of the International Relations Program. He is the author of Enduring Alliance: A History of NATO and the Postwar Global Order (Cornell, 2019). He has co-edited two volumes: with Jeffrey A. Engel, Hal Brands, and William Inboden The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq (Cornell, 2019); and with Susan Colbourn, The Nuclear North: Histories of Canada in the Atomic Age (University of British Columbia Press, 2020). His research on NATO, Canadian-American relations, and intelligence issues has been published in Canadian Military History, Cold War History, Intelligence & National Security, International Journal, International History Review, Historical Journal, International Politics, The Journal of Strategic Studies, and in several edited books.
Professor Sayle is a Senior Fellow of the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History, an affiliate of the Centre for the Study of the United States, and an associate of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. He is a Fellow of Trinity College and alumnus of Massey College.
Graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Toronto have worked with Professor Sayle to build Canada Declassified, a web repository of recently declassified archival records. This project has been supported by a SSHRC Insight Development Grant and a Connaught New Research Award. Professor Sayle is a project leader of the Canadian Foreign Intelligence History Project.
Education
PhD, Temple University
Publications
Enduring Alliance: A History of NATO and the Postwar Global Order (Cornell University Press: 2019)
The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq (Cornell University Press: 2019)
The Nuclear North: Histories of Canada in the Atomic Age (University of British Columbia Press: 2019)
Fields of Study
Britain and Ireland
Canada
Conflict, Violence and Genocide
Europe
International Relations
State, Politics, and Law
United States
Recent Media Interviews
CTV News (July 11, 2023): NATO to invite Ukraine when allies agree & conditions (video)
Canadian Press (July 11, 2023): NATO, politics and procurement: Canada lags behind allies as NATO plans to increase defence spending targets – Toronto Star, Globe & Mail, CP24 and iHeart Radio
QR Calgary (July 10, 2023): Canada’s role at the NATO summit in Lithuania (audio)
Global News (July 10, 2023): NATO summit gets underway (audio: starts at 15:35 minute mark) –
CTV Your Morning (July 10, 2023): NATO summit in Lithuania and the Prime Minister’s trip (video: starts at 49:36 minute mark)
Reuters (July 10, 2023): Bucharest declaration: NATO’s Ukraine debate still haunted by 2008 summit
The Economist (July 2, 2023: paywall): NATO is drafting new plans to defend Europe
Globe & Mail (June 28, 2023): Letter to the Globe & Mail in response to its article “Opposition MPs united in call for overhaul of access to information system”
Toronto Star (Apr. 19, 2023): Does Justin Trudeau need a way to ‘declassify’ election meddling secrets? His top aide is intrigued
Global News (Feb. 28, 2023): Did COVID-19 come from a Chinese lab? Why a new U.S. report is renewing questions
Globe & Mail (Feb. 14, 2023): Op-Ed: Canada’s leaders know the value of applied history. So why won’t they set it free? (paywall)
CTV News (Dec. 22, 2022): Canadians gleaned naval intelligence from Russian defector, newly released files show
Globe & Mail (Oct. 15, 2022: paywall): Op-ed: Canada’s information laws are preventing us from understanding our own history
Stars & Stripe (Aug. 16, 2022): Military Matters: Episode 9: NATO, Russia and the threat of nuclear war
Hill Times (Aug. 8, 2022): Themes from his book Enduring Alliances. The history of Canada and Russia
The Hill Times – Hot Room Podcast (Aug. 5, 2022): History of Canada-Russia relations (audio)
The Walrus (July 20, 2022): Canadian National Security in Historical Perspective: How an Unstable US Threatens Canada’s National Security
560 CFOS Radio (June 1, 2022): NATO Wednesday in the World with Dave Carr – Open Line show (audio)
O Globo, Brazil (May 29, 2022): Otan testa limites de Putin com eficácia, mas linhas vermelhas são incertas, diz historiador (NATO tests Putin’s limits effectively, but red lines are uncertain, says historian)
Washington Post (May 25, 2022): History As It Happens: NATO forever
CBC Radio Canada (May 22, 2022): Lapsus de George W. Bush : quand l’invasion de l’Ukraine rappelle celle de l’Irak – similarities between the wars in Iraq and Ukraine
New Republic (May 18, 2022): Why Is Putin So Oddly Chill About Sweden and Finland Joining NATO?
Orillia Matters (May 9, 2022): NATO and Russian invasion of Ukraine on May 18: Lakehead lecture series explores systems of power in Canada
CHML Radio (Mar. 23, 2022): NATO leaders prepare to meet Thursday to discuss the war in Ukraine
Global News (Mar. 22, 2022): NATO summit a chance to bolster Ukraine response, experts say. Here’s what to expect; also Q107
Q107 (Mar. 22, 2022): NATO summit a chance to bolster Ukraine response, experts say. Here’s what to expect
LeDevoir (Mar. 19, 2022): NATO and the source of the current conflict: L’Occident a-t-il une part de responsabilité dans la guerre en Ukraine (French)
BBC News (Mar. 15, 14 and 11, 2022): Why Russia never joined NATO: Por qué Rusia nunca entró en la OTAN (Spanish); Por que Rússia nunca entrou na Otan, segundo historiador (Portuguese); and Kwa nini Urusi haikuwahi kujiunga na NATO? (Swahili)
National Post: Op-Ed (Mar. 9, 2022): Canada’s new NATO role should be defending North America
CTV News (Mar. 8, 2022): Crisis in Ukraine: To Russia, it’s a ‘special military operation’ not ‘war’
The Signal (Mar. 8, 2022): How is Russia’s war on Ukraine affecting global politics?
National Post (Mar. 2, 2022): ‘Their real value is symbolic’: Why Canada shares details about weapons for Ukraine
Le Figaro (Feb. 15, 2022: paywall): Avec la crise ukrainienne, le précaire retour en grâce de l’Otan à Washington
Toronto Star (Feb. 12, 2022): Security expert. Mountie. Soldier: Meet three men working with the ‘Freedom convoy’; also The Record
CBC News (Feb. 5, 2022): Chaos agent – Yuri Bezmenov defected from the Soviet Union to Canada in the ‘70s
Background Briefing (Feb. 2, 2022): Russia and America’s Different Interpretation of the History of James Baker’s “One Inch” Remark (audio)
Global News (Jan. 26, 2022): Ukrainians in Canada grow anxious as Russian-Ukranian conflict escalates (video)
