For myself, I always saw Kuvira as a Napoleon without his selfishness. Someone who is willing to sacrifice many lives for order and the good of the nation. For what reasons? I'm fine for anything more than we got. Although, I am the Toa of Napoleon & Napoleonic Era... it is hard to admit. To be fair, we are given threads of character, as thin as paper they may be, Kuvira could many things, but not even an inch close to any of them. A tragedy of characterization if do say for myself.
Edit: What I initially thought they were going for was Kuvira being like the Book 2 Korra. Violent, willing to go to war, use any possible advantage(Mako) to get what she needs, bull-headed and other things that would make a decent avatar villain if there's better writing.