Further that year, he published Comprendre le malheur français[17] with Éric Conan and François Azouvi. This book of interviews detailed Gauchet’s analysis of the increasing anxiety and pessimism of the French population, in regards to France’s diminished influence in an enlarged European Union, within the context of globalisation. This book was followed by Comprendre le malheur français II,[18] where Gauchet reconvened with Conan and Azouvi to discuss Emmanuel Macron's term as the president of the French republic.