  We present a simple model illustrating how a highly relativistic, compact
object which is stable in isolation can be driven dynamically unstable by the
tidal field of a binary companion. Our compact object consists of a
test-particle in a relativistic orbit about a black hole; the binary companion
is a distant point mass. Our example is presented in light of mounting
theoretical opposition to the possibility that sufficiently massive, binary
neutron stars inspiraling from large distance can collapse to form black holes
prior to merger. Our strong-field model suggests that first order
post-Newtonian treatments of binaries, and stability analyses of binary
equilibria based on orbit-averaged, mean gravitational fields, may not be
adequate to rule out this possibility.
