Oh I don't disagree removing gbp might be a bigger problem than being able to declare, it allows big kingdoms to pick on smaller ones and makes fights destructive (basically the worst of both worlds). You would see a lot of dead provinces in general, but I would be a lot less afraid of a kingdom like Insolence :P.

Removing the range restriction at max meter and kd-nw gains after a certain number of hits would be sufficient. It seems odd that a kingdom should feel strong enough to max out the meter on a kingdom but not feel like they are able to fight that kingdom in war.