Well, that is kind of a loaded question but I will try to do my best.

First of all I should probably begin by giving her some context. Cleopatra was born in 69 BCE to Ptolemy XII, a descendant of one of the generals of Alexander the Great who had conquered Egypt nearly 3 centuries before and set up a Hellenistic monarchy in Egypt. The capital of Egypt and the city in which Cleopatra was born, grew up, lived most of her life and finally, ended her life was Alexandria which had been founded and named for Alexander.

The Ptolemaic Dynasty used the symbolism and epithets of the Egyptian Pharaohs and formed bonds with the formidable Egyptian priesthoods but especially the priesthood of Ptah the god of architecture and crafts. During this period Hellenistic culture blossomed and the Great Library and Museion of Alexandria was founded making Alexandria the cultural and intellectual capital of the world for centuries to come. Greek and Macedonian colonists were invited to settle in Egypt and serve in the Ptolemies military and guards with most of these colonists living in the cities of Lower (Southern) Egypt, these included Alexandria, Ptolemais, and Naukratis. A syncretic religion combining deities and traditions from the cultic practices of Greece and Egypt emerged and the art, architecture and culture of Ptolemaic Egypt reflects this fusion.

Despite this, the Ptolemies did not marry Egyptians, preferring instead to maintain their bloodlines by wedding brother to sister and uncle to niece and in this way limiting dynastic struggles between competing family members. Cleopatra I married into the Ptolemies and was herself half-Persian and coming from the Hellenistic Seleucid Dynasty, also descended from one of Alexander's generals and enemies of the Ptolemies. So we can skip ahead a few generations of internal strife, decline, and civil wars to the reign of Ptolemy XII, the father of Cleopatra (I have to tell you a little about him because he contributed to the situation that his daughter inherited both in Egypt and in relation to Rome).

Ptolemy XII was illegitimate in that he was both a bastard of Ptolemy XI and in that Egypt had allegedly been left to the Roman Republic by Ptolemy X and it had passed to him as politicians back in Rome were unwilling to annex it due to political tensions in Rome. His brother, also illegitimate, was granted the kingdom of Cyprus which had been a part of the Ptolemaic Kingdom to rule in alliance with Ptolemy XII and in this way it seemed that a tenable arrangement had been reached. However, Ptolemy XII sought to strengthen his alliance with Rome and ensure that the claims of his own children to the throne would be honoured by Rome after his death so he sought out and bribed the most influential men in Rome to have Egypt formally recognized as a "friend and ally" of the Roman Republic, which was eventually granted after paying out hefty tributes of 6,000 talents Pompey the Great and Julius Caesar and supplying some 8,000 cavalry to Pompey. Even though the price was steep and to pay off the debt he accrued in making these bribes he was forced to raise taxes higher than they had ever been he was granted the recognition he so desired in 60 BCE.

In 58 BCE Cyprus (which had not been recognized) was invaded by the Roman Republic and the king of Cyprus, who later as a result of Cyprus' annexation and his own impending imprisonment committed suicide, was accused of collaborating with pirates in the area. Once news of this reached the overtaxed and unhappy Egyptian populace there was general outrage but Ptolemy XII did not intervene in Cyprus, perhaps realizing that it was a losing proposition but in any case this appears to have been the last straw as a rebellion ensued and he was forced to flee to Rome to ask for support in re-gaining his poorly managed kingdom. Although the prophetic Syballine Books supposedly warned against the restoration of an Egyptian king to his throne he was able to receive Roman military support in the form of Roman legions sent as mercenaries, but this time he paid the nearly unthinkable sum of 10,000 talents to various politicians including Aulus Gabinius. Gabinius led a military intervention and successfully restored him to his throne 51 BCE. Ptolemy then appointed Gaius Rabirius, one of the men who had loaned him the money in the first place, as minister of coin to shift the blame for the rapidly increasing cost of goods and monumental taxation onto the Roman minister and eventually had him imprisoned to appease the people but later facilitated his escape and Rabirius returned to Rome in 54 BCE. By this time the currency was debased to between 1/3 and 1/2 of its original value and the economy was in tatters but Ptolemy XII's reign and his legacy appeared to be secure if not particularly bright.

The legion of Gabinius, often referred to as the Gabiniani, stayed in Egypt and gradually adopted the manner of their new home, even taking wives and starting families and were estranged from Rome.

In roughly 51 BCE Ptolemy XII died and in his will he specified that 18 year old Cleopatra and her brother who was 10 at the time were to reign jointly as husband and wife, according to tradition. Despite this, Cleopatra kept most of the executive power to herself, relegating young Ptolemy XIII to being a figurehead, and her face alone appears on coins and official court documents dating to this period.

This is about the point that I can actually get down to answering your question adequately (hopefully)

In 51 BCE to help ensure the support of Upper Egypt and specifically the priesthoods of Upper Egypt she made a special voyage up the Nile to aid in the consecration of a new Buchis Bull (the Buchis bull was believed to be the incarnation of the god Montu, and identifiable by pure white hair growing backwards on its body and a purely black face) and to gain the support of the strategos of Thebes which had previously been a bastion of Egyptian unrest, but remained a loyal supporter until her death. However, her association with her father and her ambitious bid for sole control of Egypt does not seem to have settled well in Alexandria and then in 50 BCE droughts caused by the Nile not filling up as much as it usually did during its annual flooding lead to a famine further weakening her position. As a result, a decree was issued ordering that all grain coming from Upper Egypt be diverted to Alexandria to alleviate the situation in the capital with those who did not comply being put to death and informants being handsomely rewarded with free men gaining a 1/3 of the offenders property if they reported them and slaves receiving 1/6 and their freedom. Even with the country's supply of grain securely in hand, she not only alleviated food shortages in the predominantly Greek cities and left Upper Egypt to its fate as had often been done by her predecessors but made concerted and evidently highly successful efforts to provide aid in Upper Egypt which went a long way towards gaining the support of its people.

Following a coup-de-etat in Alexandria on the part of Ptolemy XIII under the management of his advisors and with backing of the Gabiniani, she fled to Syria to meet with her allies and raise an army in the hopes of making a comeback. In Syria she gathered a small army and proceeded to march on Egypt but she was caught at the border by her brother's far superior forces and were it not for Roman intervention she would have lost everything near the fortified border city of Pelusium. This alone was an impressive feat but in this instance she was almost certainly doomed and in any case, what positive effect does civil war really ever have? It could and did restore her to power but it also had a negative effect on the lives of those impacted.

It could be argued that her liason with the Roman general Julius Caesar was positive in the sense that gaining his support allowed her return to the throne and helped protect Egypt from annexation. However, the moral implications of this interaction and her subsequent affair with him can also be argued and in the end this did not prevent Egypt's annexation, it only delayed it for less than 20 years before his grand-nephew Octavian conquered Egypt.

In the aftermath of the civil war she enjoyed further successes, and there are a wealth of inscriptions and dedications reflecting the construction and renovation of temple complexes, monuments and other public buildings which, in Egypt especially, is generally a sign of prosperity and internal security. Among these projects are the construction of the Caesareum, the restoration of many of the ever-important canals, the construction of a new temple dedicated to Isis one of Egypt's principal deities popular throughout the Mediterranean, the renovation and expansion of Taposiris Magna, the renovation of the Serapeum and of the famous Library of Alexandria.

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