Instead of introducing one alien race, three were introduced simultaneously: the Changelings, the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar. These three were intended to represent the front of an ancient civilization held together by fear, to contrast with the unity of the Federation enabled by bonds of friendship. Behr, Wolfe, writer Peter Allan Fields and Jim Crocker attended meetings to develop the concepts of these species and found general inspiration in Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" Trilogy novels. Toward the end of Season Two production executive producer Michael Piller suggested the idea that the Founders of the Dominion be the race to which Odo belongs, and discovered that Behr and Wolfe had also discussed this possibility. This character had been introduced with no knowledge of his true origins. Piller asserts that the endeavor to create a new villain was one of the most difficult tasks he undertook in his work on "Star Trek". Wolfe perceives similarities between the fictional Founders and the Roman Empire, in that the species first uses diplomacy, deception and cultural imperialism to achieve their aims before ultimately resorting to coercion. Wolfe also characterized the Dominion as a "carrot and stick" empire, with the Vorta offering the carrot and the Jem'Hadar holding the stick.