Finishing "The Story of French", written by English/French
husband/wife team of authors from Quebec. Part of the book is a la
"Russians invented everything and the radio" only for French. The part
about the history of the French (or as they say "francophones") in the
new world is enlightening. Now they argue that the French campaign for
the usage of their language and in international institutions is not
just arrogance but a rational powerplay.  People who use their mother
tongue for communication are always at an advantage. They make a
strong case that Anlgo-Saxon campaign for universal acceptance of
English is a similar game, just a lot more successful.  They are
probably right, but G*d, how nice it would be not having to deal with
the Babel of different language barriers.