  We study the collapse of protoclusters within a giant molecular cloud (GMC)
to determine the conditions under which collapse is significantly disrupted.
Motivated by observations of star forming regions which exhibit flattened cloud
structures, this study considers collapsing protoclusters with disk geometries.
The collapse of a 10^3 Msun protocluster initially a distance of 2-10 pc from a
10^3 - 10^6 Msun point mass is numerically calculated. Simulations with zero
initial relative velocity between the two are completed as well as simulations
with relative velocities consistent with those observed in GMCs. The results
allow us to define the conditions under which it is safe to assume protocluster
collapse proceeds as if in isolation. For instance, we find the collapse of a
10^3 Msun protocluster will be significantly disrupted if it is within 2-4 pc
of a 10^4 Msun point mass. Thus, the collapse of a 10^3 Msun protocluster can
be considered to proceed as if in isolation if it is more than ~ 4 pc away from
a 10^4 Msun compact object. In addition, in no portion of the sampled parameter
space does the gravitational interaction between the protocluster disk and the
massive particle significantly disperse the disk into the background GMC. We
discuss the distribution of clusters of young stellar objects within the
Perseus and Mon R2 star forming regions, which are consistent with the results
of our simulations and the limitations of our results in gas dominated regions
such as the Orion cloud.
