I've noticed that cookbooks are filled with terms like "saute," "julienne," and so on and so forth, even in "eastern" recipes that don't appear to have been influenced by "western" cuisine. Is there any particularly interesting historical reason why details of the French culinary tradition have become so widespread?
Maybe post this in r/Askculinary?
To put it bluntly, the French developed, formalized, improved high end cuisine, and were and still are leaders in the area.
For example Auguste Escoffier is considered one of if not the father of the culinary artform. He set the standards for "haute cuisine", which were naturally spread around France and around the world.
So given the massive French input in the development of this craft, it's rather natural that so much of the vocabulary is French.