Francophonie is apparently growing rapidly.

Demographic studies of French-speaking populations suggest that French language use is increasing worldwide.  Francophonie is normally defined as the group of nations that have adopted French as an official language—including France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Guadaloupe, Sénégal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Viêt Nam, and other nations. Although the European French-speaking population is relatively stable, the Francophone population of many African, Asian, and Caribbean nations is growing rapidly.

Researchers at Université Laval in Canada project that the Francophone population will grow from an estimated 175 million French speakers worldwide in 2000 to 680 million French speakers by 2050.  See: Richard Marcoux et Mathieu Gagné, “La francophonie de demain : essai de mesure de la population appartenant à la francophonie d’ici 2050,” Cahiers québécois de démographie 32:2 (2003): 273-294.

French-language instruction programs in American and other Anglophone nations need to prepare students to interact with the growing Francophone population worldwide. French historians need to develop more courses dealing with French dimensions of globalization.  Too often, globalization is understood exclusively through Anglo-American or Chinese perspectives.

For more information on Francophonie, see the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF).