The Role of Army in the Process of State Building in Iran and Europe: A Functional and Contextual Comparative Study

Reviewing the literature on the state building in Iran and Europe is indicative of the role of army in this process. However، the question of whether this role has been exercised in the same way or not، has been overlooked. The current paper tries to indicate that despite of the significant role of the army in state building in both Iran and Europe، the ways by which army has affected state building are completely different. Army had internal functions in Iran، while in Europe it had both internal and external functions. Upon analysis، it has become apparent that these different functions were because of different internal and external contexts in which the army has been involved in. Therefore، different internal and external contexts dictated different roles for the army and consequently have caused multiple and diverse ways of state building in Iran and Europe. Generally، this diversity shows that the emergence of the modern state has been affected by the requirements of a society. Moreover، it shows that we should not anticipate the future developments of a country entirely based on the developments of European countries.