When one looks to the West from our geographic location, we tend to overlook what's in between.
Instead, we focus on what's immediately available. It's not wrong to do so.
For centuries, we have looked up to Western societies and civilisations with their mighty talk about "human rights and democracy".
Although Western civilisations have made errors, we must not dismiss them in total.
Likewise, we must not make hasty judgments about West Asia.
For centuries, West Asia did not give us any reason to look into the vast pool of opportunities that lay within in.
What was once thought of as endless tribal and civil wars, the unknown, or in Edward Said's words, the "Orientals", is now expanding with regard to national and regional developments that may or may not dominate the global scene.
Countries in West Asia are creating more developments.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are investing much of their petrodollars and sovereign wealth funds in national developments and transforming their social policies.
Recently, Dubai overtook China's Shenzhen and New York City in having built more sky-scrapers.
Aside from infrastructure development, Saudi Arabia has also outlined gender equality and tolerance in its Vision 2030 National Transformation Plan.
This was once only a mere illusion.
Women have become more visible in the kingdom's workforce and are driving changes in digital transformation, energy sectors and military industries.
It is also looking into expanding its tech industry through its recent NEOM City projects (building zero-carbon cities) and digitalised apps that could overturn the kingdom's image of being backwards or mere desert dwellers.
Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, albeit small countries, are also tallying up the race among six other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members.
Last year, Oman overturned a law on freedom of expression, guaranteeing freedom and liberty to its people under the sanctity of Omanis' private life.
Bahrain is expanding its technology and innovations by stating that it will launch its first-ever satellite by the third quarter of this year.
Qatar, in between building ties with Iran and Turkey, as well as fixing relations with fellow GCC members, is upscaling efforts to procure more liquefied natural gas and shedding off oil in the upcoming energy shift.
When we talk about historical and cultural preservation, we have to turn to Egypt, with its vast pool of significant and monumental artifacts and library, and how it has shaped the country into becoming "Um Al-Dunya" (Mother of the World).
The country is known to have built and persevered with its City of the Dead (Cairo Necropolis) within six years.
The country is looking into securing a deal with Germany to build high-speed rail links that could cut across the Mediterranean coast and the Red Sea.
But we must remind ourselves, like how Asean countries are jumbled up as a whole, that West Asia is no different.
We are all pooled into a giant web of entanglement with one another.
We must always tread cautiously and wisely.
Although West Asia is known for its human-rights abuses and territorial disputes, maybe, just maybe, all we need to do is to not ignore it any longer.
Ignoring the significance of this region will only undermine our effort to build a more prosperous and united world.
The region, for all its glory and mistakes, has proven to be too valuable to shed off.
We must learn from the region's mistakes to find a sustainable resolution.
Is it too late for Malaysia to start looking to West Asia? Nothing is ever too late if we set our minds to it.
The writer is a researcher (chief executive office) at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times