East Asia is separated from the rest of the world on the chart because, as one may see, its poverty rate was traditionally much higher than that of the rest of the world. Please note that it is now lower than the rest of the world.
If you are wondering what has caused such a dramatic change, which has saved millions of lives, the issue is made of many different elements, from better crop management to advances in health care. The one overiding element, though, is one that will trouble some of my colleagues, so I would ask that Episcopal clergy leave the room.
Okay, ready? The common, life-saving and life-improving element in all of these economic changes and the advances that they engendered is...capitalism.
Cue the screaming.
[When you hear the term "liberation theology", I would relay what a liberation theologian of my acquaintance many years ago used as a definition for his school of thought: "We're just Marxists in vestments, that's all." He meant that as a boast.]