Some say that English is the last lingua franca in history, because English is the first global lingua franca. Do I agree with this view? I think it's not so much solidly likely.

Of course, no one can tell what the future is like. It is certain that there would be many factors and changes there that we can't foresee.

But basically, if nations and languages remain multiple also in the future as is today, there would remain the possibility that English loses its status as a lingua franca. The most crucial reason why today we learn English is because the Anglosphere is today the most leading in many important realms such as science and technology. This cutting-edge state seems to stimulate English speaking world's literature and thought, and make them cutting-edge too. In a word, it's this prosperity or vitality of the Anglosphere that makes English important for non-English speaking world. People want access to information and thought of the Anglosphere because of its cutting-edgeness and importance.

It means that if the Anglosphere may fall for some reason and another part of the world may rise, this new one would take over the status the Anglosphere today enjoys. That is, if the Anglosphere loses its prosperity, English might be no longer a lingua franca. No one knows if such a fall would never happen to the Anglosphere in the future.

Therefore, you can think it may be historical that we today learn English. There were generations whose lingua franca was Latin, Greek, or Akkadian, for example. That's long time ago. Ours is English. That's the meaning in which I used the word historical.