As Israel continues to pummel Gaza in response to Hamas’ 7 October attack, US foreign policy in the Middle East is on autopilot. Automated responses, like the never-ending supply of US arms and foreign aid, the undying commitment to Israel’s “right to defend itself” and blocking of humanitarian resolutions at the United Nations – no matter the cost to human life – remain the hallmarks of US policy. Such well-trodden policies and tired cliches appear impervious to change, no matter the decade or even century, unable to evolve with the times, adapt to new facts on the ground, or recalibrate in t…