Crossword Genius

Country wants open society brought back (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

syria

'country' is the definition.
(Syria is an example)

'open society brought back' is the wordplay.
'open' becomes 'airy' (both can mean spacious).
'society' becomes 's' (common abbreviation in names of organisations).
'brought back' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'airy'+'s'='airys'
'airys' backwards is 'SYRIA'.

'wants' is the link.

(Other definitions for syria that I've seen before include "Middle Eastern country" , "Arab republic, independent since 1946" , "Captain; omit; refuse container" , "Middle East country, capital Damascus" , "Asian country" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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