How do Kotlin systems behave under cascading retry + timeout interaction?

Retries combined with short timeouts can amplify load and destabilize systems.

When retries are combined with aggressive timeouts, systems can enter unstable feedback loops. A request times out, triggers retry, which again hits a slow system, increasing load further. Kotlin coroutines amplify this if retries are launched concurrently. Without jitter, backoff, and circuit breaking, this leads to retry storms and cascading failure.