Historically, how much political power and influence in the overall state of society have groups of expats (especially expat pensioners) been able to wield on their host countries? I know that the Japanese city of Kobe had many important instutions, such as its first firehouse, several schools, and several sports clubs that were either built or founded by expats during the Meiji era. Likewise, I know cities like Paris had many artists and writers, like Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway, who made some of their most important works there, after being relatively unnoticed in their home countries.
