My understanding is that Gridania's relationship with the elementals is, and always will be, hanging by a thread, and Kan-E and her siblings are pretty much all that stands between them and annihilation. Unfortunately, the elementals are a little too invisible to make for good drama, the Sylphs and Ixal are both toothless as Beast Tribes go, and none of the poacher bands have come anywhere close to the damage one good (bad) pirate crew can cause in Limsa.

I suppose the border with Garlean-occupied Ala Mihgo will become important once the 3.X storyline kicks in, but for now Gridania and the Black Shroud are at the back of the line for story focus.