A history of the "crisis" on Bougainville, in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea and two regional peace support deployments: Operation BIG TALK and Operation LAGOON.

These operations, though short, were unique. They demonstrated the true essence of a regional cooperative spirit and occurred in the absence of any comparative models.

While Operation BIG TALK was conducted unilaterally by New Zealand, this was not the case with Operation LAGOON, which was the region's first coalition deployment. Here Australia led a South Pacific Peace Keeping Force, the visible face of which was soldiers from Tonga, Vanuatu and Fiji. Operation LAGOON became a model for future regional coalitions and provided all participants with an enlightened appreciation of the complexities of modern peacekeeping.

Cultural divides had to be bridged, resulting in the strengthening of old friendships and the development of new understandings between the men and women of these disparate cultures who were, for these operations, united in task by a common interest - the pursuit of peace.