(NewsNation Now) — The U.S. Navy conducted its biggest exercise in decades this week. Analysts say it’s about more than making sure troops are ready for combat.

“War games are a means of diplomacy,” former naval intelligence officer John Jordan said on The Donlon Report. “The Chinese and the Russians have been running war games for a while. And they’ve been doing it in concert with press conferences, to try to build a narrative to position themselves in their various spheres of influence.”

The Chinese have also reiterated their readiness if a foreign power were to seriously press them on an issue like Taiwanese sovereignty, for example.

“The Chinese are moving rook, knight and bishop on the chessboard, because they are trying to influence us in every way, not just through military means, but economic and even academically,” China specialist Dean Cheng said on the program.

Military exercises are not the only sign of strength for a country in 2021. The U.S. is trying to beef up its cybersecurity in the wake of several high-profile ransomware attacks. A Senate committee on the subject recently gave the Department of Homeland Security a B grade, but handed out D’s to NASA, the State Department, Transportation Department and Education Department.

“When you see grades like that, it’s pretty telling and every day there’s significant nation-based observed targeted attacks on our critical infrastructure, it’s a clear and present danger,” security expert Robert Brzenchek said. “It was short of an act of war, our attacks on the pipeline from Russia.”

Russian troops also conducted drills this week, but Jordan says World War III is not imminent.

“That’s kind of clickbait-ish. The US military is always running exercises of some sort,” he said.