There were many lingua francas of which French was supposedly the first global lingua franca. That changed and it became English (from what I understand). We will probably see another language become the lingua franca, so my question is: should it be English? Are there better candidates out there? Why / why not?
I don’t think such categorical distinctions are useful. Languages have been forced upon people for a long time. Italy, France, Germany, Spain, UK, and probably many other countries have forced their preferred language upon their people. Conquered peoples have had languages thrust upon them with no way to resist.