Nations, National Self-Interest Are Building Blocks of Int. Order

Amstutz’s Building World Order means to buttress his call for Christians in particular to consider public service by pushing back against the suspicions of both left and right, suggesting instead that the nation-state is in fact the best available vehicle for advancing the common good, both domestically and internationally. In one sense, Amstutz’s case rests on the commonsense observation that it is only national states that have the wherewithal and legitimacy to secure effectively the sorts of public goods necessary for peaceful, flourishing societies. The conditions of places where states are ineffective—Yemen and Libya are two that come to mind—certainly lend credence to this claim. So far as he can see, and it seems to me that he is right in this, there just is no substitute for a well-functioning state.