The effects of optical feedback on the dynamics of mode-locked lasers are investigated numerically. It is found that, with an external reflectance in excess of a critical value, stable fundamental mode-locked operation is destroyed in most cases, except possibly where the external cavity length is near a multiple of the optical length of the laser. Optical isolation by concatenated amplifier-absorber modules has been investigated and found to be possible in principle, but requiring high currents and fast SA circuit response times and with its quality dependent on the module and reflector geometry.