as (while, because?)

Nevertheless, even before the events of the past few years, economists and policymakers were musing about the apparent contradiction between globalization, as it is generally understood,and the seemingly different paths in overall economic performance taken by the emerging and more mature economies of the world.

Q) What is the closest meaning of the underlined as?
Although It's hard to replace a word for it, I want to know what can replace it and what it means.