Country artist probing level of brightness? (4)
I believe the answer is:
iraq
'country' is the definition.
(I know that Iraq is Asian country)
'artist probing level of brightness?' is the wordplay.
'artist' becomes 'RA' (Royal Academician, member of Royal Academy of Arts).
'probing' is an insertion indicator (probe can mean to make a hole in).
'level of brightness?' becomes 'iq' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'ra' placed within 'iq' is 'IRAQ'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for iraq that I've seen before include "Country to west of Iran" , "war-torn nation" , "Country containing Basra" , "Country of western Asia" , "Country of Baghdad and Basra" .)