I agree with Sean and Nic's concept of how crisis such as wars or disease unite a people and they only hold them together for awhile. I believe though, that the leader that can incite terror into his people can hold those people together better than they believe. For example think about Joseph Stalin and the Russians in World War Two. During that time many tragic things happened, although it was a communist nation and there were very tough consequences for not acting how the government set forth as expectations. Even though he was considered a tyrant he brought all of his people together and managed to "weather the storm" that was World War Two. He united his nation and managed to bring a victory and extend his countries borders by many miles. He lead by fear and managed to propel his nation into an age where Russia became a superpower in the world.