Rifkin's concept of connectivity is displayed in the Dutch people's quest for gezelligheid (meaning a cozy, inclusive environment), as well as the social market theories that have dominated French and German economic planning since WWII.

He also discusses the European commitment to "deep play" – a notion which he claims is absent in the United States [further explanation needed].

To support his thesis, Rifkin notes[2] that in addition to the European Union having more people and a greater Gross Domestic Product than the US, the potential of the EU as an economic superpower is shown by having: 14/20 of the top banks in the world, 61 of the 140 of the top companies of the world as measure by the Global Fortune 500 (the US has 50), a homicide rate that is 1/4 than in the US, the 18 most developed countries in Europe all have more broadly distributed wealth than the US (the US ranks 24th in the world), higher lifespan than the US, higher literacy rates than the US, and higher quality of life than the US.

Also, Europeans provide 47% of all the humanitarian aid in the world, and are seen by Rifkin as being more effective in global economic market regulation, evidenced by the fact that the EU stopped the merger of General Electric and Honeywell, fined Microsoft for anti-trust, and blocked genetically modified food despite US opposition.

For many countries around the world, this has resulted in widespread hostility towards American power and a relative willingness to cooperate with the European Union.