On July 30, 2022, Marc Fogel’s name first appeared on this opinion page.
It would not be the last.
The Butler County native and Pittsburgh resident was a recurring topic in editorials for four years as TribLive did two things: We kept the story of his detention in a Russian prison in the headlines, and we kept advocacy for bringing him home.
Today — nearly a year after Fogel came home — we return his name to the spotlight. Not to argue for his freedom, but to understand what his experience revealed.
This editorial does something different. We do not advocate for Fogel this time. He is home. That work is done. What remains is the harder task: examining how to protect people like him from the fearful fall he took — from citizen to leverage — and how to prevent it from happening again.
Fogel carried marijuana into Russia, prescribed legally in Pennsylvania for chronic pain. That fact cannot be ignored — but it also cannot be viewed in isolation.
While he held a diplomatic passport, his outspoken criticism of the Russian government carried little risk. Once that protection was stripped away, both his speech and his medication became liabilities.
The cannabis gave Russia convenient cover for an imprisonment that is all too common in that country. It is a nation where being outspoken is its own crime — a reality underscored by the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny while in custody in 2024.
His death threatened a carefully orchestrated prisoner exchange that sent home Americans Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan — but left Fogel in his cell.
The change in visa and passport status should have been a red flag for the United States — a blaring car alarm warning the country to protect its people. At the very least, those people should have been better prepared for the new dangers.
Instead, while Fogel sat in a Russian prison, other Americans were arrested — among them Wall Street Journal reporter Gershkovich and WNBA star Brittney Griner. Some were famous or protected. Others were not.
Warnings followed. The State Department updated its advisories, cautioning Americans about travel to Russia and the risk of wrongful detention. It is now one of 22 countries with “do not travel” warnings.
Is this simply what happens when Vladimir Putin’s Russia flexes its authoritarian muscle — what Eric Rubin, former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, described as “payback”? Or is it also a consequence of the United States’ own fracture?
Every American should feel the protection of the Constitution and the reassurance of the U.S. government every day. That expectation should not end at the border. It should be as real on the streets of Allegheny County as it is necessary in other countries.
In 1947, U.S. Sen. Arthur Vandenberg coined the phrase “politics ends at the water’s edge.” It is an exhortation for our leaders to lay aside their partisan differences when it comes to the international stage.
The idea was simple: Present a united front abroad rather than airing disputes where the consequences would be borne by others.
Providing that strong right arm needs to be front of mind for all of our leaders. Congress must pass laws that support it. The president must model it. The State Department must provide it.
That does not absolve Americans of their own responsibility to be good citizens of the world when overseas. We must recognize when U.S. law and foreign law diverge — and act accordingly.
But the U.S. government can never lose sight of the Marc Fogels working in its name, and the responsibility to stand beside them.