Syria, a country whose authoritarian government has often been rife with corruption and human rights violations, has again reshuffled its cabinet as President Bashar al Assad attempts to deal with a number of problems his country now faces.

With the economy being one of the top issues, some of the first “changes” appear to be appointing some new ministers in interior affairs, health, local governments (apparently rotten with corruption), justice, and presidential affairs.

The Syrian economy is in particularly bad shape, which also affects the country’s state of security as Syria owes arms suppliers like Russia and China considerable sums of money.

The concern about the country’s security also stems from the recent Israel attack on a Syrian nuclear facility as well as the January 2008 assassination of Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyah in Damascus.

But the state of Syria’s environment, especially pollution and desertification, has probably resulted in the reinstatement of the Ministry for Environmental Affairs to deal with a number of pressing issues; especially Syria’s increasing lack of adequate water supplies.

Syria has not had an environmental ministry for over five years; and the new one, to be headed by a woman, Kawkab al-Sabah Mohammad Jamil Dayeh, will have the assistance of the President himself who has become more interested in the state of his country’s environment.