I wonder if the writer of the article read the same Culture novels I did. Or read them at all. "In each novel, the Culture faces an enemy that does not agree with their values." I recall that mostly the Culture reacted to aggression. Further, stuff like "for the Gzilt, they wanted them not to 'sublime', or transcend the known universe" is just plain wrong. In the case of the Idirans, the war was put to a referendum and not decided by the Minds.