Full coverage: The South China Sea Issue

The US has a highly mixed record about compliance with the dictates of international law, even as it has led its formation and its enforcement against others. Some historians say the US is in no position to lecture China on the South China Sea.

A somewhat patchy record on international law -- a glance at history tells us the US has not let legal niceties stop the pursuit of its policy objectives.

It has not ratified many of the most important multilateral treaties, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In the 1980s, Nicaragua brought a lawsuit against the US in the UN’s International Court of Justice, alleging that the CIA had mined its harbour and was funding paramilitary contra forces fighting to overturn the country's government. The US responded by denying the court jurisdiction, and not acknowledging the case.

The World Court managed to find jurisdiction and ultimately ruled that the US breached international law obligations in violating the country's sovereignty. Then, the US used its vetoing rights repeatedly to block enforcement in the UN Security Council. The American ambassador infamously characterised the court as a "Semi-legal, semi-judicial, semi-political body which nations sometimes accept and sometimes don't". In the end, only partial resolution was reached through diplomatic negotiations.
 
Inconsistencies as such could leave people wondering whether the US views international law merely as an instrument it is able to bend for its own convenience as a global power.