The United States is facing a lot of problems. Whether it’s Russia’s aggressive moves in Ukraine, the horribly tragic situation in Afghanistan, China’s various misdeeds, or the various domestic issues, a lot of them come down to one thing: Promises.

When it comes to Ukraine, America has only one option: To defend that country. We made promises, once at the end of the Cold War to get Ukraine to give up former Soviet nukes, and one in 2008 about NATO membership. While we can debate how wise those promises were, the promises were made, and they need to be kept. We’ve already broken our word once on Joe Biden’s watch — the development of a pattern of such word-breaking can only be to the detriment of our national security interests.

Similarly, many of our issues with China surround ambiguity about promises. The United States made a massive promise of arms to Taiwan in 2001. It hasn’t been fulfilled, particularly in the area of submarines. Ironically, the situation involving Australia and France’s canceled submarine deal is a chance to fix that. We’ve also let China get away with breaking promises in areas like trade.

But the country also faces problems from promises at home that weren’t kept. Nowhere has this been more evident than with the pandemic. Many Americans have been fed up with the double standards that emerged. We are almost 21 months past the end of “15 days to slow the spread” that we were told was needed when the pandemic hit America in 2020, yet has life returned to normal, or have the goalposts been moved? We’ve seen the promise that those given power won’t abuse it get broken on numerous occasions.

Those broken promises were compounded by a failure on the part of those who claimed leadership positions in the Republican Party and the conservative movement to keep what were implicit promises to protect their supporters from the abuses. Worse, many purported “leaders” failed to call out the outright lies, vicious smears, and hatred spewed by the Left.

The good news is that there are signs the wake-up call has been heeded and that the Republican Party is adapting. Tim Scott, for instance, has shown ways to fight back without some of the side effects that came from the dose of political chemotherapy that Donald Trump applied to the GOP.

For all of his faults in his personal life, Trump has grasped the importance of keeping promises — at least in the political arena. This is why, unlike a lot of his critics, he retains a lot of support. This is something from which those who wish to take the mantle of leadership should learn.