Mark Amstutz

Professor Amstutz' major academic interests are in international affairs and, more specifically, the role of ethics in the conduct of foreign relations. He has written international relations texts and undertaken pioneering research on the role of international political morality. His book International Ethics is used widely in American colleges and universities. The fourth edition was published in 2013 and the fifth edition is scheduled for publication in early 2018. In 2005, he wrote The Healing of Nations: the Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness, which addresses the challenges of confronting and overcoming regime human rights abuses through political reconciliation. His book Evangelicals and American Foreign Policy, published in 2014, describes and assesses the role of Evangelicals in global affairs. In recent years, he has carried out research on the political ethics of U.S. immigration policy, resulting in the publication of Just Immigration: U.S. Policy in Christian Perspective, published by Eerdmans in 2017. Prof. Amstutz has received numerous scholarship and teaching awards. These include: “Senior Teacher of the Year, 1988-88,” “Senior Scholarship Achievement Award, 2004-05,” and “Senior Scholarship Achievement Award, 2014-15.” For more than four decades, Prof. Amstutz' passion has been to teach and equip Wheaton students to serve the Kingdom of Christ in public life--whether through law, political organizations, government, the military, think tanks, education, relief and development agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Prof. Amstutz grew up in Latin America and has traveled widely as a teacher and scholar. He has directed programs in Europe and Cuba and, in 2011, led a two-week program in Argentina and Chile. For more than a decade, he served as a reserve naval attaché, retiring as a Commander from the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1993. He and his wife Donna, a clinical psychologist, have two married daughters and are the proud grandparents of five. Professor Amstutz is a member of a local church and loves sailing and cycling.

American University, School of International Service
Ph.D., International Relations, 1972

American University
M.A., Latin American Studies, 1967

Houghton College
B.A., History, 1965

• Political Science Education
• Ethics
• International Relations
• Foreign Affairs
• Political Science

• American Political Science Association
• International Studies Association

On Immigration, Welcoming the Stranger Is Only One Piece of the Puzzle
Christianity Today
Early in his new book, Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective, Mark Amstutz recounts the story of a young man in California who had completed law school and was seeking admission to the state bar. But his aspiration was so controversial that he eventually found himself in front of the California Supreme Court...
view more

What is an ‘Evangelical Foreign Policy?’
Religion News Service
A lot of hot air is devoted to American evangelicals’ work on domestic issues such as abortion and gay marriage. But what is an ‘evangelical foreign policy?’ Mark Amstutz, professor of political science at Wheaton College and author of “Evangelicals and American Foreign Policy,” is determined to answer that question. Here, we discuss the characteristics and shortcomings of evangelicals’ foreign policy...
view more

The Foreign Policy Mission of American Evangelicals
Christianity Today
The American public often associates evangelicals with domestic political fights over abortion and same-sex marriage. But historically, they have been no less active in shaping events on distant shores. In Evangelicals and American Foreign Policy (Oxford University Press), Mark R. Amstutz, a political scientist at Wheaton College, analyzes evangelicals' long-standing engagement on global poverty, human trafficking, international religious freedom, and Israeli statehood. CT senior editor for global journalism Timothy C. Morgan spoke with Amstutz about the motivating factors behind evangelicals' engagement in foreign affairs...
view more

His main area of research interest is international political ethics. Currently he is carrying out research on the political ethics of immigration.

The Renewal of Global Order, Providence
Amstutz, Mark R., 2016
view more

Two Theories of Immigration, First Things
Amstutz, Mark R., 2015

Reinhold Niebuhr's Christian Realism and the Bush Doctrine, Christianity and Power Politics Today: Christian Realism and Contemporary Political Dilemmas
Amstutz, Mark R., 2008

The Bush Doctrine: A Niebuhrian Assessment, The Review of Faith and International Affairs
Amstutz, Mark R., 2007

Human Rights and the Promise of Political Forgiveness, Review and Expositor
Amstutz, Mark R., 2007

Is Reconciliation Possible After Genocide?: The Case of Rwanda, Journal of Church and State
Amstutz, Mark R., 2006

• Evangelicals and American Foreign Policy
• Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective
• International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics
• Rules of the Game: A Primer on International Relations (International Studies Intensives)
• The Healing of Nations: The Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness
• International Conflict and Cooperation: An Introduction To World Politics
• Christian Ethics and U.S. Foreign Policy