For centuries, culture has been as often a divisive as a unifying force.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne

He chaired the Labour Party nationally, and was a unifying force in the 80s and 90s, shadowing health and education.

BBC: SERVICES

No matter how stressed your family is at any point in time, this plan can be a unifying force for your family.

FORBES: Connect

The King is viewed by most Thais as a symbol of stability and a unifying force in what has often been a politically divided country.

CNN: Country profile: Thailand

And if he can't pitch this year, he plans to be a unifying force, a father figure, a clubhouse mascot, a deity on crutches giving the team something to rally around.

WSJ: Mariano Rivera: 'I'm Coming Back'

Following the example of his father, Hussein, King Abdullah has presented himself with considerable success as a unifying force, a constitutional monarch representing the will of his people, says the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Sebastian Usher.

BBC: Jordan's King Abdullah calls early elections

And signalling his intention to fight on the Blairite centre ground he said that with the Lib Dems in coalition with the Tories he believed Labour can be a "great unifying force on all shades of centre left opinion in this country".

BBC: Labour leadership contest: Runners and riders

In this archipelago of hundreds of islands, the church was a rare centralising and unifying force.

ECONOMIST: Cardinal Sin

Chavez was a driving force in unifying Latin America, creating new regional organizations like the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

CNN: Opinion: Chavez was a maker of dreams