Spanish seems too regional and parochial, concentrated in Latin America, while Spain itself has generally been a relative backwater in Western Europe and on the periphery of the main Western European countries of France, the UK, Germany, and Italy, even during its Golden Age.
French has history and tradition on its side, as the lingua franca and with France being one of the chief countries of Western Europe. And even until relatively recently with US postwar dominance, French was the main second language of Westerners, Europeans, and many throughout the world. The problem now is that outside of France proper, French is mainly a West African language. So like Spanish, it's very regional, parochial, and limited to a backward part of the world.
Russian has geographic coverage across Eurasia, the Soviet legacy, and is more independent of American influence and English than the Western European languages.
German has on its side the reasons you enumerate i.e. economic, political, cultural clout on the Continent. It's the de facto dominant language and culture of Mitteleuropa and Western Europe that's only suppressed by US power and the US siding with the UK and France.
The main argument for Arabic's global status would be religion, as the language of Islam.
"panish seems too regional and parochial, concentrated in Latin America, while Spain itself has generally been a relative backwater in Western Europe and on the periphery of the main Western European countries of France, the UK, Germany, and Italy, even during its Golden Age."
Agreed. But there's nothing like the Spanish-speaking oikoumene for any other language except English. French isn't used as a primary language by people in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Russian isn't used as a primary language by people in the FSU.
Spanish seems too regional and parochial, concentrated in Latin America, while Spain itself has generally been a relative backwater in Western Europe and on the periphery of the main Western European countries of France, the UK, Germany, and Italy, even during its Golden Age.
French has history and tradition on its side, as the lingua franca and with France being one of the chief countries of Western Europe. And even until relatively recently with US postwar dominance, French was the main second language of Westerners, Europeans, and many throughout the world. The problem now is that outside of France proper, French is mainly a West African language. So like Spanish, it's very regional, parochial, and limited to a backward part of the world.
Russian has geographic coverage across Eurasia, the Soviet legacy, and is more independent of American influence and English than the Western European languages.
German has on its side the reasons you enumerate i.e. economic, political, cultural clout on the Continent. It's the de facto dominant language and culture of Mitteleuropa and Western Europe that's only suppressed by US power and the US siding with the UK and France.
The main argument for Arabic's global status would be religion, as the language of Islam.
"panish seems too regional and parochial, concentrated in Latin America, while Spain itself has generally been a relative backwater in Western Europe and on the periphery of the main Western European countries of France, the UK, Germany, and Italy, even during its Golden Age."
Agreed. But there's nothing like the Spanish-speaking oikoumene for any other language except English. French isn't used as a primary language by people in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Russian isn't used as a primary language by people in the FSU.