Interesting points ravenfeeder. I am also impressed with the English ability shown by non-native speakers. I think that we Americans have always been rather insular in our views toward other nations, a phenomenon which seems to be especially relevant today. Generally, we expect other people to conform to our ways of doing things. Learning about other languages and cultures has never been a high priority except out of necessity, such as during the cold war when learning Russian seemed of great importance in certain circles. We see the same thing today with the CIA and others scrambling to find more Arabic speakers. If a major crisis erupted in sub-Saharan Africa tomorrow, we would find ourselves equally unprepared to cope with that area. I think two factors have drove the (pre-internet) dominance of English. Commerce, as mentioned is one. The other is the worldwide popularity of American popular culture. Hollywood movies, rock and roll, etc. have played a part in the process.

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken