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What are some strengths and weaknesses of Jared Diamond's arguments?

Jared Diamond's book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, tries to answer Yali's question about why Europeans have so much more "cargo" (material goods) than  the natives of Papua New Guinea. The major strength of the book is the manner in which Diamond avoids racist and ethnocentric arguments. Arguing that people from all over the world are equally intelligent, work equally hard, and are equally creative, he suggests instead that geographical and environmental factors play a key role in the disparity of technology and development. His sensitivity to geographical factors, including the existence of specifically domesticable crops and animals in particular regions, is innovative and interesting as is his effort to discredit racism.


The major weaknesses of the book are twofold. First, covering such a broad sweep of history, he can overgeneralize and sometimes relies too much on striking anecdotes. Second, he has a degree of tunnel vision, focusing on geographical determinism and not looking at the effects of cultural and political factors. 

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