I was just reading a book "The Power of Habit" and the author wrote that good leaders know the power of a crisis and use it to make the society better. People are most malleable during a crisis and sometimes a temporary chaos can bring years of peace.
"never let a good crisis go to waste" is the saying they use, hence why they like to create them.
(create the) problem
(wait for the) reaction
then (put in place the) solution that deprives citizens of more rights, and gives them less freedom, alternatively known as problem reaction solution, it has been used for thousands of years you see.
Thanks for a top class comment, I look forward to many more I hope.