Region in Near East (4)
I believe the answer is:
area
'region' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'in near east' is the wordplay.
'in' says the answer is hidden in the clue.
'AREA' is hidden in the letters of 'near east'.
(Other definitions for area that I've seen before include "field of study" , "Locality" , "Extent of a two-dimensional surface" , "Region, space" , "environs" .)