Successful arms control must reward compliance

Freezes and tight carrier or cruiser limits turned fleet plans into theoretical contests and made reciprocal rule-breaking understandable. Intelligence services could estimate foreign displacement from machinery deliveries and observed performance, so many discrepancies were known rather than truly secret. Governments stayed quiet because their own fleets faced comparable pressure to hide armor, weight, or reconstruction work. A durable treaty gives participants useful legal choices instead of forcing every viable ship into evasion. Better incentives, enforceable limits, and practical alternatives make compliance more attractive than concealment while preserving the political value of arms control.