the aircraft carrier club 71
much larger than a cruiser. The United States is the only country to op-
erate supercarriers, which in many respects are in a class of their own.
Interestingly, it is not the expensive carriers but rather the cheaper ones
that tend to suffer from poorer maintenance and training, since some of
those who purchase them suffer from the implications of the Gatsby ef-
fect. They can muster enough resources to buy the carrier and gain access
to the club, but they cannot afford to operate the vessel in any meaning-
ful way. In such cases it is difficult to explain the purchase of the carrier
(knowing the projected operating cost) without some reference to its sym-
bolic value as a signifier of status and prestige. Moreover, the discourse
surrounding the procurement and deployment of carriers is often explicitly
loaded with many references to prestige.
The following is an overview of the current state of the world’s carriers.
The discussion relies on information gathered from the SIPRI (Stock-
holm International Peace Research Institute 2001 ) archives, specialized pub-
lications on procurement, intelligence, and defense (such as Jane’s Defense
Weekly, Military Affairs, Naval Force, Jane’s Intelligence Review, etc.), trans-
lated domestic news coverage provided by FBIS (Foreign Broadcast In-
formation Service), and academic analyses. The discussion introduces the
members of the carrier club in alphabetical order and ends with a review
of China, the newest and most controversial member of the club.
Brazil
In 1996 Brazil published an official document defining its National De-
fense Policy (Politica de Defensa Nacional [PDN]).^12 The PDN defined
Brazil’s strategic interests and concluded, “Without any doubt, the Ama-
zon basin is currently the main strategic issue for Brazil... which has a
number of direct consequences as regards the priority of missions being
assigned to the national armed forces” (Vigdal 2001 , 9). Giving priority to
patrolling the Amazon basin requires the procurement of riverboats and
airplanes that can operate in this remote area (Godoy 2001 ). However,
“despite the stated importance of the protection of the Amazon region,
the Navy programs do not include any specific projects for new river patrol
boats” (Vigdal 2001 ). Instead, in August 2000 , Brazil purchased the aging
French aircraft carrier Foch, a thirty- seven- year- old vessel, for $ 42 mil lion.
Renamed the São Paulo, it consumed most of the Brazilian naval budget
for the year 2000 and was likely to continue doing so for years to come
(Military Affairs, August 29 , 2000 , 5 ).^13
