The human population expected to reach 10 billion by 2,100, the probability of conflict aggravated by scarceness over the XXI century is growing. Conflict is likely to be driven by a number of factors: changing climate, urbanization, migration, and food insecurity. According to the FAO 2018 report, global malnutrition rose from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million people in 2016. Data also highlight that the majority of these people live in countries affected by political conflicts (489 million out of 815 million). While significant food support comes from the USA and the EU, this feeds about 100 million peoples annually across 73 countries, their role is of cure and not prevention. Reducing food conflict in politically fragile countries on a sustained basis requires new investment and partnerships to develop biotechnological solutions including genetically modified crops. According to our analyses, GM Bt crops with the scope of food, feed, and processing can improve food security, and in broader way alter political conflicts in developing countries. The food supply chain, and policy decisions about safe GM crops should be the areas worth reconsidering, clear, and constructive reference to safe GM crops as an important option for a higher level of self‐sufficiency has to be made.

Territorial arrangements for managing interethnic relations within states are far from consensual. Although self-governance for minorities is commonly advocated, international documents are ambiguously formulated. Conflicting pairs of principles, territoriality vs. personality, and self-determination vs. territorial integrity, along with diverging state interests account for this gap. Together, the articles in this special section address the territoriality principle and its hardly operative practice on the ground, with particular attention to European cases. An additional theme reveals itself in the articles: the ambiguity of minority recognition politics. This introductory article briefly presents these two common themes, followed by an outline of three recent proposals discussed especially in Eastern Europe that seek to bypass the controversial territorial autonomy model: cultural rights in municipalities with a “substantial” proportion of minority members; the cultural autonomy model; and European regionalism and multi-level governance.

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