Here are some threads from the FAQ section linked by /u/400-Rabbits:

The Americas

• Why is it that western Europe developed technologically so much faster than other places such as Africa/Native Americans etc. ?
• This delves a huge issue involving most everyone from the Americas to Australia to Asia. I'd recommend reading over the entire thread (even the downvoted comments) because this is a treasure trove of information and debate.
• The native americans and several other cultures did not experience the same technological advancements as europe. What has caused this diffrence?
• This thread starts with a huge overview done by /u/snickeringshadow which talks about the actual state of technology and development in the Pre-Columbian Americas which you might find interesting.
• What differences caused the Mesoamerican societies to be much more successful than Eastern North American societies?
• /u/Reedstilt delivers a huge amount of information on Pre-Columbian North America which may help illuminate the picture in which those societies lived.
• Why didn't native americans develop bronze, iron or steel?
• Lots of good information here about the use of metal in the Pre-Columbian Americas which you might find relevant (particularly due to metal weapons' utility in warfare).
• If there is iron in the Americas, why did mesoamerican peoples never develop iron working?
• The users in this thread delve into the difficulties of finding and smelting iron in comparison to finding abundant native copper and putting the relatively pure metal to good use.
• Is there any reason why the Native American civilization never was able to work metal?
• Here /u/Reedstilt this time draws explicit comparisons between the metalworking of Native American societies in the Eastern Woodlands and European metal working that you may find illuminating.

Africa

• Why were there so few empires in Africa?
• The answers in this thread correct the OP's assertion by pointing out various empires that developed (and collapsed) throughout Africa.
• What happened to Africa's Ancient Empires?
• The respondents go into the fates of several medieval and early modern African Empires as well as the difficulties of African history (often in finding evidence).
• Why did all of the other continents develop so much quicker than Africa?
• This is a large thread that not only talks about the African experience with "development" but also has several commenters highlighting the situations in the Americas and Australia. /u/khosikulu's comment here is an excellent analysis of African geography in context with its "development" and other issues that are commonly cited when comparing African peoples to others.

South East Asian Exploration, Trade, and Expansion

• I just read about the Bugis people, the Vikings of Southeast Asia because they discovered Australia and New Guinea long before the European Age of Discovery. What other maritime cultures had a golden era of exploration in the Middle Ages?
• The commenters in this thread explicitly compares Viking voyages to the New World to the voyages of the Bugi people to Northern Africa and Papua New Guinea.
• Why didn't the Polynesians colonize Australia?
• This thread delves into the discoveries of the Polynesians (and their relation to the Melanesians) which made them stay put instead of go further.
• Why did Polynesians stop expanding? Also, why did they never settle Australia?
• This thread talks more about what methods the Polynesians used for travel and how that influenced the boundaries of their explorations.

You may be interested in our FAQ section on The Civilizations of the Americas, as well as the section on GG&S.