The paper draws upon the recent developments of alcohol policy in the ex-Soviet Union and in Africa, especially Kenya. According to the standard criteria of success, both are to be regarded as total or near-total failures. The examination of these cases will, consequently, reveal some of the factors that are essential prerequisites for carrying out successful alcohol policies. It will lead to considerations concerning the approaches and problems of alcohol research; to a discussion about the marginalization of alcohol and drinking in our Western societies; to another look at the tasks of alcohol policies (based also on experiences in Truk, Federated States of Micronesia); and, finally, to a rather modest view about the role of alcohol policy in general.