This was exactly my reaction, and I'm preparing a potential top level post as a response - to me the game described in this article is not Diplomacy but rather one of the more common failure modes of those attempting to play Diplomacy. I've participated in both, and to me Eero's game both is Diplomacy and is in my opinion a vastly better game qua game.

Incidentally, the other failure mode is not having enough time and ending the game after the opening or middle game, frequently in a four or five way draw.