I mean when American culturalism worked.
I know that Americans invented many things, but that was not my question.
You're participating in American culturalism right here, right now, on an American website, using American technology (the internet), discussing American (specifically) politics which you are familiar with because we export our Hollywood entertainment based news to your country. I can assure you that neither I nor any of my American friends go to a German-speaking website to discuss European politics.
It's amazing to me that you would deny that American culturalism works in any way while you are directly participating in it because it works so well. In fact, it appears to work so very well that it is seamless to you that something so American as this board feels natural and not foreign to you.
And the reason you speak English is not because of the British, it is because of American entertainment (Hollywood, music) which has been pushed even more to the world in the internet age through American media and technology (iPhone, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
I have family from Armenia. All the older folks there still speak Russian, as Russia was the influence on their lives until the 90's. In the 90's, two things came along for them - freedom and internet/technology. Everyone who was a teen at that time and since that time stopped learning Russian and they all learn English now. Why? iPhone. Microsoft. Disney. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. Not because of anything British.
You don't have to like it, but you can't deny the reality.