Could more realistic treaty limits reduce conflict?

Would more realistic Washington Treaty limits have meant less cheating and perhaps a better chance of peace?

Possibly: attainable limits would reduce incentives to cheat and the cycle of suspicion that made later agreement harder.

More realistic tonnage limits could make compliance more likely. Once states cheat, they tend to assume that every other signatory is also cheating, and useful trust collapses. A 40,000-ton capital-ship ceiling and a less humiliating Japanese ratio could still constrain fleets while allowing ships that felt credible. Peace would remain uncertain, but one source of grievance and the incentive to conceal construction could be reduced.