Obama speaks at the UN in New York

In a speech dominated by rhetoric 

He said there is no "us and them" when it comes to the fight against Islamist extremism.

Quoting an infamous 2003 essay by Samuel Hungtington, he rejected any suggestion of a "clash of civilisations" between the West and the Arab world.

He mentioned high rates of unemployment in the Middle East, and outlines four key steps towards fighting "religiously-motivated" extremism.

1 - IS must be "degraded and ultimately destroyed." He said "the only language understood by killers like this" is the language of violence. 

Obama rejected any suggestion that US troops would set foot on the ground, saying instead that the US would "support" local fighters.

2 - He called on the world, and "especially Muslims" to publicly denounce IS ideology. He demanded a crackdown on ideological propaganda published on the internet and social media. He quoted a commandment from the Christian Bible: "do unto your neighbour as you would have him do unto you."

"We must declare war upon war"