"We speak of a commission as defining the boundary between two nations." What does "as" mean here?

Question

What does the following sentence mean? And how is "as" being used here?

We speak of a commission as defining the boundary between two nations.

Does it translate to this?

We speak of a commission as something that defines the boundary between two nations.

For context, here is an excerpt from this article from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

To give a few examples, we speak of a commission as defining the boundary between two nations; of the Supreme Court as defining, through its rulings, “person” and “citizen”; of a chemist as discovering the definition of gold, and the lexicographer, that of ‘cool’; of a participant in a debate as defining the point at issue; and of a mathematician as laying down the definition of “group.”

Answer 1

Here's are some examples of how as can be used in similar contexts:

We define bipedal as "walking on two feet".

We speak of chimps as quasi-bipedal because even though they can walk on two feet they are somewhat clumsy walkers, and when running they tend to use their hands and feet.

We speak of X as Y = We attribute the quality, condition, or meaning Y to X.