system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
eli5: Why is english the world wide language of communication?
gpt
The era of the British Empire saw English being spread throughout Asia and Africa due to English colonies.  They weren't, for the most part, going to learn the local languages, so they simply had the locals learn English.  

Then, the American era began after WWII and they sort of reinforced that.