I think English has two advantages : 1- it is already very widely used 2- more importantly, it is a fairly simple language compared to French , German , Arabic , Mandarin etc. Can't really think of a language simpler than English

Mandarin also has no grammatical gender.

But I also get the "uncomfortable imperial" point

@corrupt : yeah I agree with that . I think at least in richer countries everyone should learn one "universal" language

I'd still prefer English to be the lingua franca for two reasons: plenty of exposure opportunities because it's everywhere; non-gendered so you don't have to play mind games about whether a book is m, f, or neutral

English has an uncomfortable imperialist and colonial connotation in many cultures, making it probably not the best choice, globally.

As long as it's not French, I can understand