Do you think the culture of English-speaking countries, as well as the English language, dominate the world?

Answer 1

English has been the international language for business for several decades. But whether the culture of English speaking countries dominate the world is a tricky question, especially as other, non-English speaking countries rise (e.g. China) and global access through the internet expands.

First, one could argue that the cultures of English-speaking countries not only vary from country to country but also from region to region within countries.. For example, the culture of the United States and the culture of Great Britain vary, and within the United States there are regional variations as well as urban vs agrarian cultures. In Great Britain, Australian and Canadian cultures have variances.

Second, these differences manifest in different ways. For example, rules of politesse, expectations in the workplace, attitudes toward non-natives or social outliers may change depending on which English-speaking country you're in and whether you're in a city or farming community. For example, in the U.S., in urban centers, there is, generally, a greater acceptance of diverse populations than there is in rural areas.

Third, there's the question of what we mean by "culture". One could say that movies, television and popular music form a country's culture as much as its folk heritage, classical music and visual art. As the internet expands access to culture, it is difficult to say that English speaking countries will be the greatest exporters of culture in the future, even though they've been dominant for decades. For example, if you look at the slate of Academy Award nominees and winners for the last three or four years, you will see that Latin American directors and film writers are gaining traction. This follows the trend of influential writers and painters such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge Luis Borges, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

If we could freeze this moment in time, it would seem that the U.S. and The U.K. are dominant culturally, but time is not static, change is inevitable and the global ability to sample all of world culture is upon us.